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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 December 2021
In England, the time gap between marketing authorization (MA) and guidance publication by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) can limit patients’ access to new medicines. In this study, our aim was to identify medicine characteristics associated with the long time gap between MA and guidance publication and explore the influencing factors.
We identified 116 single technology appraisals from 2016 to 2020 using publicly available data, and extracted information on the year of appraisal completion, application type, experiences of similar appraisals, orphan medicinal products (OMPs), cancer medicines, and accelerated assessment. Multiple regression analyses were performed to analyze the associations between the medicine characteristics and key time periods related to health technology assessment and MA processes.
OMPs were associated with a long period between MA and guidance publication. Specifically, OMPs and cancer medicines were associated with slow guidance publication after the final scope (FS) development. However, there was no association between OMPs and the period between validation of MA application and FS development. Non-double-blinded randomized clinical trials and the use of comparators not specified in the FS were associated with slow guidance publication after the FS development.
Our results demonstrate that OMPs are associated with a longer period between MA and guidance publication by the NICE than non-OMPs; this may be attributed to the slow guidance publication after the FS development. These findings indicate the necessity to shorten the appraisal process for OMPs.