NICE Renews Recommendation for EXOGEN – A Closer Look
This week the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) formally updated its guidance (MTG12) regarding the use of EXOGEN for treatment of long bone fractures with nonunion. This is great news for our colleagues selling EXOGEN in the UK and Ireland as well as throughout Europe as guidance from NICE carries considerable weight in the marketplace.
In reviewing its guidance on EXOGEN, NICE also updated the cost parameters in its original cost modelling and found that while the cost of revision surgery has increased by 25%, the costs related to the use of EXOGEN to treat long bone fractures with nonunion has remained the same. This has resulted in the doubling of cost savings to £2,407 (previously £1,164) per patient, compared with current care management, through avoiding surgery.
This favorable decision from NICE will benefit patients, health care professionals and even provides significant economic relief to the health care system in the United Kingdom. It was no small accomplishment and took the work of a talented team at Bioventus. We spoke with some of them to learn more about this story.
“The formal process started in June 2018, however we began working to identify and engage our clinical advocates in preparation from early 2017,” said Rob Barker, Market Development Manager, International.
The scope of the review was EXOGEN treated long bone delayed and nonunion fractures and according to Rob, the questions Bioventus had to address within the submission were:
- Has there been any changes to the technology since previous review? (This included providing technical specification detailing differences with previous model and current offering).
- Was the company aware of any new clinical evidence on the use of EXOGEN, available since the original evaluation occurred in 2012? (These would include systematic reviews and meta-analyses for long bone delayed and nonunion along with real world outcome audit data).
The submission also asked for information on which NHS trusts had adopted the technology. NHS Trusts are organizational units within the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.
“It was a real team effort with contributions from Neill Pounder, Kim Kelly and Mason Robbins providing technical product detail, and Peter Heeckt, Andy Harrison and Carl Flannery providing input to the systematic literature review and our response to the in-scope published literature,” said Rob. “In addition, Mark Harbaugh coordinated work with external agencies, Carl Liebert provided supporting marketing material and case studies were supplied by Christine Trogdon.”
This recommendation from NICE will be in place for three years and it gives a lift to EXOGEN around the world as well as a boost for the commercial teams that sell it.
“It supersedes a previous LIPUS decision that may have limited EXOGEN use to certain situations. In Europe and globally, NICE is recognized as a credible organization,” said Carl Liebert, Director, Global Brand Marketing – Bone Healing. “NICE decisions often influence other local technology assessment groups. For instance, aspects of the NICE decision will be used in the US to support our discussions with Evidence Street which is a Blue Cross Blue Shield assessment group.”
“The guidance builds on the confidence and credibility of our sales team when engaging with healthcare professionals and supporting better outcomes for their patients,” said Matt Owen, Country Manager, UK/Ireland. “Looking towards next year, the NICE improved endorsement enables us to continue to work closer with our customers in the NHS.”