the times | Wednesday May 25 2022 2GM 21
News
A new sight-loss drug will be made
available for hundreds of thousands of
patients on the NHS, only a week after
it was approved by the medicines regu-
lator. Given as an injection in the eye,
faricimab improves vision in people
who have wet age-related macular
degeneration (wet AMD) or diabetic
macular oedema (DMO).
The jab is manufactured by Roche
under the brand name Vabysmo and
does not need to be given as frequently
as existing drugs. Patient groups said
that its rollout could make a real differ-
ence to those with the eye problems,
reducing the burden of “arduous”
regular hospital visits.
The National Institute for Health
and Care Excellence (Nice) said that
faricimab could be used on the NHS.
Up to 300,000 people in England with
AMD could be eligible, as well as
28,000 people with DMO.
The drug received approval from the
Medicines and Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency only last week,
using a new post-Brexit mechanism in
which the MHRA works with inter-
national regulators in countries includ-
ing Australia, Canada, Singapore and
Switzerland to speed up decisions.
Helen Knight, interim director for
medicines evaluation at Nice, said: “We
are determined to drive innovations
like these into the hands of clinicians to
help patients as soon as possible.”Sight-loss injection
to cut hospital visits
Cathy Yelf, chief executive of sight-
loss charity the Macular Society, said:
“Patients with wet age-related macular
degeneration and diabetic macular
oedema face the burden of regular
hospital visits to receive the vital
treatment they need to save their sight.
“However, we know these trips can
be arduous and often rely on the
support of friends and family, some-
times as often as every four weeks.
“We are delighted that a new treat-
ment option, which has the potential to
maintain vision and help minimise the
number of hospital visits, will be made
available to patients in England.”
Roche offered the NHS a discount on
the drug following conversations with
NHS England. Thom Renwick,
ophthalmology lead at Roche, said that
it was “delighted” to recommend “this
new and effective treatment”.
Meanwhile, about 100 women a year
with advanced breast cancer were told
that they could try a new type of
immunotherapy on the NHS. Nice
approved the use of pembrolizumab,
also known as Keytruda, in combina-
tion with chemotherapy, overturning
draft guidance that rejected the drug.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief exec-
utive of Breast Cancer Now, said that
the move was “absolutely fantastic
news for around 100 patients” with the
disease every year. She added: “The
reversal of this decision now brings
hope to eligible women for whom it
could bring precious additional time.”Kat Lay Health EditorTHE MEGA AGENCYWa s, is an ode to impermanence
destined to become his definitive solo
hit. Effortless glamour with a
melancholic undertow — that’s why
he has gone down so well in the post-
Covid era.
The album was released last week,
yet many of the crowd were already
word-perfect. “I never thought I’d say
‘cocaine side boob’ with my mother in
the audience,” Styles said after the
California-breezy Keep Driving. Not a
line to challenge Mitchell for
profundity, although she praised the
title Harry’s House, borrowed from
one of her songs.
The gossamer funk of Cinema was a
highlight and the chat was as smooth
as the singing. “Did anyone get rained
on? I’m so sorry. I don’t control the
rain,” Styles said, as if that were a
possibility. Later he stopped Sign of
the Times so that a fan who had
fainted could get attention. Maybe thehype is warranted. For the encore,
Styles nodded to the One Direction
days with an ecstatic What Makes You
Beautiful and gave us the inevitable
Watermelon Sugar. No matter how
bad things get, he said of the latter,
“you can always sing along to a song
about oral sex”. They did. And
somehow it wasn’t weird.
Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Coventry,
Sunday; Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, June
11; touring to June 19Harry Styles,
who played in
New York last
week, is
wooing fans