Iluvien knocked back again on reimbursement in the UK

pSivida’s (ASX:PVA) marketing partner Alimera Sciences is looking at ways to lower the cost of Iluvien, a treatment for back-of-the-eye diseases, after it was denied reimbursement by the UK’s National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The treatment is approved for sale in the UK, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It is still working on approval in the United States.

Iluvien had already been knocked back by NICE, although the body agreed to accept new clinical data and reassess the treatment.

The final draft guidance from NICE indicated the “evidence provided did not show that the benefits of Iluvien provides to patients justify the proposed price”, according to a statement released by the company.

In response, pSivida’s licensee, Alimera Sciences, is developing a Patient Access Scheme to address the cost concerns. If this scheme is accepted, Iluvien will be made available to all chronic diabetic macular edema patients in the UK who were considered insufficiently responsive to other therapies.

The knockback came as a blow to the company (ASX:PVA), with the share price dropping by 8% at the opening of trade on Monday morning, down 11c to $1.21.