– Public Comment Period Now Open – Comments Accepted until December 21st –
November 22, 2016 – The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released a Draft Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of disease-modifying therapies for relapsing-remitting and primary-progressive multiple sclerosis. The report, as well as accompanying draft voting questions, is now open to public comment for four weeks.
ICER is committed to engaging with all stakeholders in a thorough and transparent manner. Before completing this Draft Evidence Report, ICER reached out to key stakeholders, including patient groups, clinical experts, and the manufacturers of the drugs to engage them in the process. ICER also accepted public comments on a Draft Scoping Document prior to conducting the review. The current draft report incorporates input received from patients, clinicians, manufacturers, and other stakeholders during each of these opportunities for engagement.
The Draft Evidence Report, as well as the accompanying voting questions, will be open to public comment until December 21, 2016 at 5PM ET. All stakeholders are invited to submit formal comments by email to publiccomments@icer-review.org. Guidelines for submitting public comments, including formatting specifications, are available on the ICER website. ICER will review all comments received and incorporate any necessary changes in the Evidence Report and revised voting questions that will be posted on or about January 26, 2017. All comments will be posted publicly along with the Evidence Report.
The Evidence Report, which will include value-based price benchmarks for the treatments under review, will be the subject of a public meeting of the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF) on February 16, 2017 in Oakland, CA. During the meeting, the independent CTAF Panel will vote on key questions raised in the report, and an expert policy roundtable will discuss recommendations to apply the evidence to policy and practice.
During the public meeting, there will be a limited amount of time available for interested stakeholders to make an oral comment on the report. Beginning today, requests to submit oral comment are being accepted. All requests must be emailed to publiccomments@icer-review.org by 5PM on December 21, 2016. For more information about registering for oral comment, please visit our website.
Register now to attend the meeting in person, or watch the live webcast.
More information on our methods for public engagement can be found here.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an independent non-profit research institute that produces reports analyzing the evidence on the effectiveness and value of drugs and other medical services. ICER’s reports include evidence-based calculations of prices for new drugs that accurately reflect the degree of improvement expected in long-term patient outcomes, while also highlighting price levels that might contribute to unaffordable short-term cost growth for the overall health care system.
ICER’s reports incorporate extensive input from all stakeholders and are the subject of public hearings through three core programs: the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF), the Midwest Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (Midwest CEPAC), and the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council (New England CEPAC). These independent panels review ICER’s reports at public meetings to deliberate on the evidence and develop recommendations for how patients, clinicians, insurers, and policymakers can improve the quality and value of health care. For more information about ICER, please visit ICER’s website.