Arthritis Research Campaign: Nice decision is excellent news

Medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign (Arc) has described the decision to extend the number of drugs available on the NHS to treat arthritis as "excellent news".

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has ruled that rituximab (Mabthera) and adalimumab (Humira) should be given to patients who have not responded to other drugs.

It follows an earlier decision by the government's medicines regulator to not recommend Abatacept (Orencia) for arthritis treatment on the NHS for reasons of cost effectiveness.

"Nice has been in the firing line a lot recently so they should be given credit for approving the use of rituximab," said Arc spokeswoman Jane Tadman.

"This gives patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis who fail on anti-TNF therapy a life-line by making available another treatment option. It's particularly welcome, given Nice's recent draft guidance that another drug for severe RA, abatacept, was too expensive."