This will probably be downvoted into oblivion but the move to biosimilars makes sense and will not have been made at a whim. I appreciate if this might be unfortunate for some people who will be directly affected by it but the cost savings will be invested for different services or treatments.
I’m never sure what people really expect to come from publishing articles like this.
Spiky_Hedgehog1 on
It’s more likely her condition has progressed than the biosimilar natalizumab putting her back 15 years. At some point the drug, whoever manufactures it will stop being of benefit.
Difficult_Bag69 on
Tyruko and Tysabri are literally the same drug. It’s just a branding difference.
She’s had MS for 20 years. Likely represents disease progression that would’ve occurred anyway regardless of change. Sad and horrid disease, but sceptical about the cause being medication change related.
SavingsSquare2649 on
Whilst it’s awful she’s going through this, she started relapsing before switching to the cheaper treatment. MS is cruel and when a relapse hits, there’s no guarantee that it will ease up in a set timeframe :/
OddAd9915 on
Looking into it it’s the same drug, but a different and cheaper manufacturer. The MS Society even talks about them as the 2 options for the same medication Natalizumab.
It also sounds like the initial issue was due to the route her old medication was given via (and injection into a muscle rather than an infusion into her vein) which kicked off the original issues and that things have gotten worse since then. It’s not clear from the article if the newer version is also being given via injection rather than infusion.
CommentWrench on
I do believe people who would like less cost effective treatments should be given the option to pay for them out of pocket. The switch to biosimilars is the exact kind of sensible cost optimisation we should expect from the NHS.
Totallynaturalvibes on
It’s not cost cutting, once a drugs initial patent runs out the NHS can get much cheaper equally effective alternatives. It’s common sense. The article states scores of MS sufferers are affected…so 24 / 36? Out of all the 1000s people on it that’s a small percentage.
Also it states she was relapsing prior to the new drug…
7 commenti
This will probably be downvoted into oblivion but the move to biosimilars makes sense and will not have been made at a whim. I appreciate if this might be unfortunate for some people who will be directly affected by it but the cost savings will be invested for different services or treatments.
I’m never sure what people really expect to come from publishing articles like this.
It’s more likely her condition has progressed than the biosimilar natalizumab putting her back 15 years. At some point the drug, whoever manufactures it will stop being of benefit.
Tyruko and Tysabri are literally the same drug. It’s just a branding difference.
She’s had MS for 20 years. Likely represents disease progression that would’ve occurred anyway regardless of change. Sad and horrid disease, but sceptical about the cause being medication change related.
Whilst it’s awful she’s going through this, she started relapsing before switching to the cheaper treatment. MS is cruel and when a relapse hits, there’s no guarantee that it will ease up in a set timeframe :/
Looking into it it’s the same drug, but a different and cheaper manufacturer. The MS Society even talks about them as the 2 options for the same medication Natalizumab.
https://www.mssociety.org.uk/living-with-ms/treatments-and-therapies/disease-modifying-therapies/natalizumab
It also sounds like the initial issue was due to the route her old medication was given via (and injection into a muscle rather than an infusion into her vein) which kicked off the original issues and that things have gotten worse since then. It’s not clear from the article if the newer version is also being given via injection rather than infusion.
I do believe people who would like less cost effective treatments should be given the option to pay for them out of pocket. The switch to biosimilars is the exact kind of sensible cost optimisation we should expect from the NHS.
It’s not cost cutting, once a drugs initial patent runs out the NHS can get much cheaper equally effective alternatives. It’s common sense. The article states scores of MS sufferers are affected…so 24 / 36? Out of all the 1000s people on it that’s a small percentage.
Also it states she was relapsing prior to the new drug…