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The £2-a-day hayfever 'cure' that's too expensive for the NHS
Last updated at 08:07am on 12.06.07
The £2-a-day pill, which dissolves under the tongue, treats the pollen allergy
Millions of hayfever sufferers are being denied a new treatment which could cure the condition because of a lack of NHS funds.
The £2-a-day pill, which dissolves under the tongue, treats the pollen allergy which is the underlying cause of hayfever - instead of just relieving the symptoms.
The drug - Grazax - could help transform the lives of millions of Britons, but the majority of NHS trusts have so far refused to fund it. Trials carried out on 2,500 hayfever sufferers showed long-term improvements for those on the treatment.
The daily pill, launched in January, reduced hayfever symptoms by 30 per cent in the first year of use, increasing to 36 per cent by the second year.
While taking Grazax, patients were also up to 44 per cent less likely to need to use such tablets and nasal sprays to relieve their symptoms, according to results released yesterday of a trial across 12 European countries.
The tablets contain a protein found in pollen which causes the immune system overreaction that leads to hay fever.
Taking regular doses of the protein in tablet form leads to the body building up tolerance to it – making Grazax effectively a vaccine in tablet form.
There are an estimated 10 million hayfever sufferers in the UK, with up to one million so severely affected it badly interferes with their lives.
Common symptoms include red, itchy and watery eyes, a blocked or runny nose, and frequent sneezing or coughing.
Allergy campaigners are now calling for the drug - which costs £67.50 a month - to be made available on the health service.
A spokesman for Allergy UK said: "The hayfever season is getting longer and the condition can be very debilitating. This pill is very effective and it should be available. We need to see more funding for it."
But the drugs rationing watchdog NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has yet to consider Grazax for approval, leaving each individual NHS trust to decide whether to fund the drug.
Peter Anderson, the UK managing director of ALK-Abello - the Danish manufacturer of Grazax - said the "lion's share" of health trusts had yet to decide whether to fund the hayfever drug.
He said: "About 20-30 have reached a decision and about a dozen have agreed to fund it." Allergy specialist Professor Pamela Ewan, one of the British consultants on the Grazax trial, said: "The results are quite impressive. It appears safe and is convenient to take.
"But we can't prescribe it because we can't get anyone to fund it. The problem is the cost and the potential number of patients."
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Patients should not be refused treatment simply because NICE guidance for the drug does not exist. Where drugs are licensed, health trusts should consider funding if recommended by the clinical and in the light of existing evidence."
Medicines already on the market, such as antihistamine tablets and steroids, can provide relief but are short-acting and do little to help the worst affected.
Grazax works in the same way to immunotherapy, in which sufferers are injected with up to 90 small doses of pollen over a three to five year period.
But the treatment protects only against hay fever caused by grass pollen, although its manufacturer is also developing tablets which act against dust mite allergy and hay fever sparked by tree pollen.
If the pills are taken every year over a course of three years - at a total cost of £2,400 - they should provide relief for several years after treatment finishes.
Numerous other allergy pills and vaccines in the pipeline. These include a "one size fits all jab" capable of warding off asthma, eczema and hay fever.
The vaccine, being developed in Switzerland, could be available in four years.
British firm Allergy Therapeutics is developing a jab that eases the misery of hay fever after only four shots.
Reader views (27)
This treatment - sublingual immunotherapy (Grazax) is available on private prescriptions too. According to the current regulations only allergy specialist can initiate the treatment. And the the first dose must be administered in a hospital with resuscitation capacity where patients stay for 1 hour. All the other doses are taken at home.
- London Allergy and Immunology Centre, Harley Street London, 11/10/2011 23:35
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Does anyone know if this is available now? I would pay I am so desperate for something to work. Does it work, I suffer from really bad hayfever and on the contrary its more than just a blocked up nose and a light cold. 2 years ago I begged my doctor for steroids and he said no my symptoms in his opinion were not bad enough.
The following week I sat on an 11 hour flight with blocked sinuses only to land and faint in the airport due to the pressure in my head. I was rushed to hospital where they said that I had a severe allergic reaction to 'something; My airways were closing off and my body was swelling. They pumped me with a load of drugs and put me on a drip! Fantastic way to spend a holiday!
The point being, is that even going to the park in the height of pollen season causes my airways to close and i literally choke on what appears to the naked eye to be Nothing..... But that's pollen and the UK should do more to recognise that you have variants. Life threatening one in my case
- melissa, London, 14/04/2011 10:39
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I have just started taking grazax (16/2/2011) but have to pay to have it privately. Has it worked for anyone out there?
- L Livingstone, Tring Herts, 19/02/2011 15:28
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I have suffered with extreme hayfever for 10 years,not only am i highly allergic to grass but i can't eat the meat of an animal that has eaten grass! I have been told so far that i am a prime candidate for Grazax and after yet another trip to the hospital i will hopefully get it!
For people that don't suffer with hayfever,it is just an allergy. For people that do,we all know different!
It has such a hugh impact on my everyday life(especially when it comes to doing everyday things with my kids),so it reality it not only has an affect on my life but my familys too! It would be so great to have a normal day in the summer 
- Serina mitchell, Warwickshire, 28/06/2010 21:10
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I recently requested Grazax from my doctor & received a note saying it had been 'discontinued'! Hmmm!
- Jane, Warlingham, Surrey, 06/07/2009 15:11
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i have suffered from hayfever since i was a kid at school. My main symptom was really itchy red eyes and it didnt matter which eye drops i used or antihistamines i took my eyes never cleared up. I have been having acupuncture for it this year and it really has helped but when the pollen count is really high my eyes still itch. I am a fan of natural products and read in the natural health magazine about the 'Qu-chi acupressure band' and decided to try it. As soon as i put it on my eyes stop itching. My friends keep telling me it is all in my mind, but to be honest i dont care as it really works. btw if you type in 'green' at the checkout at it costs 8 quid.
- Georgie, london, 20/06/2009 20:58
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Having been a sufferer for decades and finding nothing worked for me I have just purchased a "hay band" it is an acupressure band, worn on the arm. I am also using the power of positive thought but am hoping the initial success (2 days) will last. I have even been able to mow the lawns and go for a walk in the early evening with no sneezing. I have tried taking it off and within a very short space of time my symptoms returned, put it back on and they have stopped again. Try it, it's brilliant (for me) it will literally change my life if it continues to work.
- Ann, Sout coast, 17/06/2009 18:01
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This treatment should be available if needed, what is wrong with giving people the option to pay for it. Im having to take lots of sickness from work because of really bad hayfever and pollen asthma. i dred the summer and pray for it to rain to calm symptoms down. How sad is that! I hardly get any sleep at night because i cant breathe. The meds on the market dont work for me.
In the long run the drug (Grazax) will save money for the NHS. But then again the profits are bigger to pay for Meds that are cheap to make, expesive to buy and dont work for everyone.
- Shan The Grass Pollen Sufferer, Birmingham, 17/06/2009 17:48
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well.
i think they dont solve this problem out because Our MP's are proved to be corrupt and they just want this NHS business cycle to be running as it is.
If they want the cure to be there, the cure WILL be there.
Human is born to find the cure of everthing they come across and Thats FACT.
Its shame than living in England and not getting the right treatment for this little hay fever.
well We pray that we will get there one day.
I am on its CASE and i promiss the day i will find it. i will distribute it for free.
- R K, luton, 15/06/2009 22:27
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My hayfever cripples me. I am lucky to get more then 4 hours sleep a night during the summer. I frequently suffer sinusitus / nose bleeds as a result of the trauma caused to my nasal passage due to the constant sneezing. I also often end my hayfever season with a bad chest due to the 2-3 month of seemingly endless amounts of mucus that runs onto my chest. I am told prolonged sinisitus and frequent chest problems can lead to more serious health issues. I have to take all my holidays from work during the hayfever season so that I can sit inside a boiling hot house with the windows closed (on doctors orders). The only treatment that has ever worked for me was steroid pills but these can only be used for emergency short term relief as it has some funky side effects. The pain and discomfort caused however is nothing in comparison to the anger I feel that this treatment is unavailable to me. People can say what they want about cost and priorities but the fact remains that over 1 million people in the uk suffer as I do and denying them treatment is unethical, it would be like saying we are no longer giving the elderly flu jabs as it isn't cost effective.
- Anthony, Hartlepool, 25/06/2008 05:29
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So you take it for three years costing £2400, and then get "several years" relief from annoying but harmless symptoms. Not even a permanent cure. If it cured life-threatening asthma, there would be a case for the NHS to fund it, but if all it helps is sneezing, runny noses and itchy eyes (all of which I'm suffering from right now) then there are far more deserving medical conditions. Existing cheap hayfever fixes (antihistamines and eyedrops) work quite well in any case.
Do people really think that just ten hay-fever treatments equal one £24,000 cancer treatment?
- Nigel, London, 12/06/2007 16:18
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Why do we expect everything free - if you want this pay for it yourself - only £2 a day - same as a takeout coffee - people seem to have no trouble funding their own needless plastic surgery.
- Nick, London, 12/06/2007 13:19
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While this new medicine is not available on the NHS, how about contacting your local Beekeepers Association to find someone who sells honey local to where you live? It will contain traces of local pollen and might act in a similar way. It has certainly helped me and it's nice to buy local honey rather than the anonymous supermarket variety anyway.
- Clare, Cambridge, 12/06/2007 13:10
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I am a hayfever sufferer and I'd just like to say it's not to be sneezed at.
- Dan, Manchester, 12/06/2007 12:51
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If you can get Nicotine patches and Zyban on NHS, then this should be too.
- Alfie, London, 12/06/2007 12:36
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More medicine for everyone but the taxpayer. Why do we bother?
- Upset, London, 12/06/2007 12:21
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Our tax pounds are needed to fund the multitude of new and irrelevant quangos and "Top Heavy" admin post in the NHS and other departments formed by "New Labour". God forbid that I should mention the new non functional IT systems as well.
- Jose, Wales, 12/06/2007 12:18
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In the long run this drug will save money for NHS - think of all the people going to see their GPs with hayfever symptoms and being prescribed drugs which simply deal with the symptoms. This could cure the condition and help milions of hay fever sufferers.
- Mrs B, Bath, 12/06/2007 12:17
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Okay, so it may be expensive. But I still can't see why the government can't invest money into setting up a factory in order to produce the stuff very cheaply? Surely the company would agree to this?
I mean, the bill for killing 100,000+ civilians in iraq is in the BILLIONS. But then, you don't get hayfever in the desert.
And yes, I'm sneezing and all snotty as I write this.
- Andy, UK, 12/06/2007 12:13
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Sounds like an NHS postcode lottery again just like with the drugs for breast cancer. Where you live shouldn't determine the healthcare you get - it just isn't fair.
- Sally, Bracknell, Berks, 12/06/2007 12:09
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It doesn't sound that great if it only reduces hay fever symptons by 30-36 per cent. Surely there are better ways to spend NHS funds?
- Eddy G, Cambridge, 12/06/2007 12:07
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I need this medicine! Give it to me now! Make it available for me! As a sufferer it stops me doing the most simple of things daily and my eyes are forvever red. This would help a great deal - especially since I don't have a stable job (I'm an artist - my allergies affect my work!)
- Struggling Artiste, Arnos Grove, 12/06/2007 11:49
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This should definately be made available for all. I can't tell you the number of times I have tried to find hayfever meds in Boots and failed. If we can buy it bigger batches, then we'll have it at our disposal. Rubbing eyes and noses on the tube isn't cool!
- Harriet H, London, UK, 12/06/2007 11:47
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Seems reasonable to me, hayfever is hardly life-threatening and as long as it's made available over the counter I fail to see why people can't buy it out of their own pocket.
- Trevor Roll, London, 12/06/2007 10:08
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"Millions of hayfever sufferers"
"The £2-a-day pill"
"If the pills are taken every year over a course of three years - at a total cost of £2,400"
Well even with my simple maths it is quite easily to come to a figure in excess of a £Billion for a years treatment based on just a couple of million sufferers.
- Mark, South-East London, 12/06/2007 09:19
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As someone who suffers severe hayfever, I don't think this should be made available on the NHS. At almost over £800 per year per patient, of which there are approx 10 million, I would be quite happy to see the money put to far better use elsewhere in the NHS.
- Gino P, London, 12/06/2007 09:12
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A patient cured is a customer lost.
- Andy, London, 12/06/2007 08:50
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