In final draft guidance, NICE says vedolizumab (also called Entyvio) should be recommended as an option to treat moderate to severely active ulcerative colitis, but only if its manufacturer (Takeda) can supply the treatment at an agreed discounted rate.

Ulcerative colitis affects an estimated 146,000 people in the UK. The condition is thought to occur when the body’s immune system wrongly attacks healthy tissue in the bowel, causing it to become inflamed. It can cause small, pus-filled ulcers on the colon's lining as well as bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain and an urgent need to go to the toilet.

Professor Carole Longson, Director of the NICE Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, said: “Ulcerative colitis is a long-term and distressing condition for many thousands of people. It can have a serious impact on a person’s quality of life.

“Vedolizumab is licenced to treat people when conventional therapy or a type of treatment called TNF-alpha inhibitors either doesn’t work well, has stopped working or can’t be tolerated. For these patients the other options are commonly treatments such as corticosteroids, which may have severe side effects, or surgery, which can have a profound effect on fertility that many don’t want to endure. Vedolizumab will be a welcome and effective alternative.”

For more details, go to: https://www.nice.org.uk/news/press-and-media/chronic-painful-bowel-condition-treatment-nhs-funding