The NHS must prepare for a future in which Alzheimer’s is treatable and even curable, experts say.
New treatments being developed mean patient outcomes will be “increasingly better” and the disease could even be “eradicated”, according to leading researchers.
The first treatment ever discovered to slow the disease was given the green light in the UK, but then rejected on the NHS.
The drug watchdog NICE deemed lecanemab’s benefits “too small to justify the significant cost to the NHS”, dealing a blow to tens of thousands of patients. Independent estimates put the annual cost per patient at around £30,000.
New treatments being developed mean that patient outcomes will only get better (file image)
The first treatment ever discovered to stop the disease was given the green light in the UK, but was rejected by the NHS (file image)
The devastating disease could even be “eradicated” according to leading researchers (file photo)
Sir John Hardy, from the UK’s Dementia Research Institute, said: ‘These drugs – lecanemab, donanemab and others to come – show we can disrupt the disease.
“That’s why researchers are so excited. Every year from now on, things are going to get better and better.
“I don’t want to destroy the NHS, but we need to put pressure on the government to help the system get organised so that patients can benefit, starting now.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS’s national medical director, said they would await a final decision from NICE, which is expected next month.