10 August 2015 - New medicines for the treatment of HIV, asthma and MRSA-related skin infections have been endorsed by cost regulators for the National Health Service in Scotland.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has put forward Janssen-Cilag’s Rezolsta (darunavir ethanolate with cobicistat) as an option, in combination with other anti-retrovirals, for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults aged 18 years or older.

Rezolsta combines the company’s big-selling HIV therapy Prezista (darunavir ethanolate) and Gilead’s Tybost (cobicistat), offering an alternative for patients unable to tolerate the side effects of other treatments in a single pill, making it easier to manage and monitor treatment regimes, the regulator noted.

Janssen forecast the gross medicines budget impact to be £286,000 in year one and £1 million in year five, but, as other medicines were assumed to be displaced, the net medicines budget impact was estimated to be cost neutral.

For more details, go to: http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/15-08-10/Three_new_drugs_green-lighted_for_NHS_Scotland.aspx