NICE Rejects Fampyra for Multiple Sclerosis

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has declined to recommend Acorda Therapeutics’ multiple sclerosis drug Fampyra (fampridine) for National Health Service (NHS) use.

NICE said the drug, which it previously rejected in a draft decision in 2021, is not cost-effective for the patient population, but that patients who had already managed to get the drug from the NHS could carry on taking it. Patients with private prescriptions pay between $260 and $790 per month for the drug.

Fampridine is a potassium channel blocker that acts on damaged nerves, allowing electrical impulses to travel along the nerves to stimulate the muscles, making it easier to walk.

Fampyra is authorized in the EU to improve walking ability in patients with multiple sclerosis who have a walking disability. The EU marketing authorization was granted to Biogen, which entered into a collaboration and licensing deal with Acorda in 2009.