NICE backs Novartis asthma drug in fresh U-turn

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's health cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said it planned to recommend the use of Novartis's severe asthma drug Xolair after prevaricating for months over whether it should be paid for on the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday it had reversed a November decision in the light of extra analyses and a move by Novartis to offer a so-called patient access scheme to discount Xolair's list price. Xolair works by blocking immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies from attaching to …