Covid-19: NICE rejects five treatments over uncertain evidence and price in draft guidance16 Nov 2022 09:53
https://www.bmj.com/content/379/bmj.o2759
NICE has recommended three drugs—nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (Paxlovid), tocilizumab (RoActemra), and baricitinib (Olumiant)—for the treatment of covid-19 in adults, as part of draft guidance.1
The review of the efficacy and cost effectiveness of drugs currently being used in the NHS to treat covid-19 considered treatments in the context of routine commissioning, rather than their use in exceptional circumstances, such as during a pandemic.
NICE has not recommended other covid-19 treatments, including casirivimab plus imdevimab (Ronapreve), molnupiravir (Lagevrio), remdesivir (Veklury), sotrovimab (Xevudy), and tixagevimab plus cilgavimab (Evusheld).
Currently, access to covid-19 drugs is guided by the UK wide clinical access policies agreed by the UK chief medical officers. Once the final NICE guidance is published, however, it will inform routine commissioning decisions for these treatments.