The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has approved the use of the first long-term daily pill to treat a condition that affects around 1.5 million women in the UK.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care, has recommended the first long-term daily pill to treat endometriosis that it believes could transform how this painful condition is managed.
Endometriosis affects around 1.5 million women in the UK and causes chronic pain and fatigue when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body. Despite its widespread impact, diagnosis typically takes nine years from when symptoms first appear.
The treatment, called relugolix–estradiol–norethisterone (also known as relugolix combination therapy or Ryeqo), works by blocking specific hormones that contribute to endometriosis, while also providing necessary hormone replacement in a single daily tablet.
“This new treatment marks a potential step-change in how we manage endometriosis, putting control back in patients’ hands while ensuring value for the taxpayer,” said Helen Knight, NICE’s director of medicines evaluation.
Patient autonomy
During the evaluation process, patient experts highlighted the importance of having additional treatment options that can be taken at home, giving people more autonomy in managing their condition.
“Instead of travelling to clinics for injections, there is now a daily tablet that can be taken at home,” Knight added. “The treatment can also be stopped and started more easily, which is particularly important for those planning to have children and for managing side effects.”
The treatment will be available through routine NHS commissioning for patients for whom medical or surgical treatment for endometriosis has failed.
The drug approval has been welcomed by Endometriosis UK, the UK’s largest charity supporting those affected, which said it hoped that this medication would now be accepted for use across the whole of the UK.
