Alzheimer’s patients face a “heartbreaking setback” after a decision not to approve a drug for NHS Scotland which has been shown to slow the disease’s progression.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC), which approves drugs for use in the health service, said there was “uncertainty” around the “modest clinical benefit” of lecanemab.
Its chair, Dr Scott Muir, said: “Having considered all the evidence, we were unable to accept lecanemab for treatment in the NHS in Scotland.”
The drug is the first Alzheimer’s treatment of its kind to be licensed for use in Britain.
But the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), had already rejected the drug for use by the NHS in England and Wales owing to its cost.
Muir said the SMC had “felt that there remains uncertainty around what the modest…