Heart drug approved for use on the NHS

AROUND 1,500 people in England with a rare heart condition could benefit from targeted treatment after it was approved for use on the NHS.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has recommended the once-a-day tablet tafamidis, for people with transthyretin amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM).

ATTR-CM involves an abnormal build-up of a protein called amyloid, primarily in the heart.

Symptoms of the condition can include shortness of breath, palpitations and abnormal heart rhythms, fatigue, fainting and chest pain.

These symptoms start in adulthood and get worse over time, causing the heart tissue to thicken and stiffen, leading to possible heart failure and death.

Until now, treatment options have been limited and mainly focused on easing symptoms.

Tafamidis (also called Vyndaqel and made by Pfizer) is the first drug to slow down the buildup of the dangerous protein deposits.

Nice said a new price agreement had been reached with Pfizer and it had examined a new analysis looking at what happens after people stop taking tafamidis.

Clinical trials of the drug show it reduces the risk of death by 41 per cent compared to patients taking placebo.

People taking tafamidis through clinical trials also experienced fewer hospital admissions than those in the placebo group.

The drug is being made available on the NHSdue to interim funding from the Innovative Medicines Fund.

Professor Simon Ray, national clinical director for heart disease at NHS England, said: “A first of its kind, tafamidis will give those living with this rare progressive condition new hope – with NHS patients now able to benefit from a once-a-day treatment that can reduce the risk of hospitalisation and heart failure.”