November 25th. Posted by David - [D's comments in brackets]
There has been a lot of interest in the new drug Daxas in the UK and many patients are asking for it.
A UK doctor who was personally involved in an assessment of Daxas was approached. The response below is understood to be a personal opinion :
It was suggested that clinically it is not yet shown to have a major effect and as it is an oral tablet it has to go all round the body before it starts to work. For this reason there is said to an increased risk of side effects.
It is intended to reduce airway inflammation and in the two studies that showed good results, none of the patients involved were on maximum inhaled steroids, so it is unlikely that they were having frequent exacerbations.
[This latter point suggests that it is shown suitable so far only for milder levels of copd. DB]
Daxas has been licensed for use in UK and doctors may prescribe it, but it has not yet been assessed by NICE, the UK drug 'value for money' organization which advises our NHS The major hospital trusts and pharmacy groups are hesitant to stock and distribute it. [This suggests that it can be obtained privately but not yet free via the NHS. DB]
[It is reportedly not an expensive drug to produce so there is no reason to believe that cost cutting is a significant factor. The FDA has asked the manufacturer for more information and I suspect this is the reason behind the caution in the UK. DB]
I have not tried it yet however I?m sure we can get over the side effects over time. These Doctors get so windy over anything new!!!
There has been a lot of interest in the new drug Daxas in the UK and many patients are asking for it.
A UK doctor who was personally involved in an assessment of Daxas was approached. The response below is understood to be a personal opinion :
It was suggested that clinically it is not yet shown to have a major effect and as it is an oral tablet it has to go all round the body before it starts to work. For this reason there is said to an increased risk of side effects.
It is intended to reduce airway inflammation and in the two studies that showed good results, none of the patients involved were on maximum inhaled steroids, so it is unlikely that they were having frequent exacerbations.
[This latter point suggests that it is shown suitable so far only for milder levels of copd. DB]
Daxas has been licensed for use in UK and doctors may prescribe it, but it has not yet been assessed by NICE, the UK drug 'value for money' organization which advises our NHS The major hospital trusts and pharmacy groups are hesitant to stock and distribute it. [This suggests that it can be obtained privately but not yet free via the NHS. DB]
[It is reportedly not an expensive drug to produce so there is no reason to believe that cost cutting is a significant factor. The FDA has asked the manufacturer for more information and I suspect this is the reason behind the caution in the UK. DB]
I have not tried it yet however I?m sure we can get over the side effects over time. These Doctors get so windy over anything new!!!