Med Tech-related technology assessments from NICE in January 2025

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops Interventional Procedures Guidance (IPG) for most novel interventional procedures entering the English market. The program focuses solely on clinical evidence. Recommendations may vary from "for research only" to "for use with standard arrangements for clinical governance, consent, and audit." Recommendations are not binding, although they are followed by providers and commissioners.

In January 2025, NICE published two new IPGs and made the following conclusions:

• Transperineal laser ablation (TPLA) for treating lower urinary tract symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia can be used in the NHS with special arrangements for clinical governance, consent, and audit or research while more evidence is generated in people who cannot have transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or other transurethral procedures. In people who can have TURP or other transurethral procedures, more research is needed on TPLA before it can be used in the NHS. There is not enough good-quality evidence on the safety and efficacy of the procedure. Most of the evidence is from small observational studies with short follow-up. There are no major safety concerns, and the procedure appears to improve symptoms, but more evidence is needed.
• Electrically stimulated intravesical therapy for interstitial cystitis or overactive bladder in adults is recommended only as a part of a formal research study approved by the NHS Research Ethics Committee. More research is needed on patient selection, the medicines used, the duration and number of treatments, the effect on the quality of life, the duration of symptom relief, and adverse events, including potential long-term complications. There is very limited evidence of the procedure's efficacy. However, there are no major safety concerns, and it has the potential to address an unmet need for treatments for interstitial cystitis and overactive bladder, which can be debilitating conditions. 

Health Technology Evaluations (HTE) using the Early Value Assessment (EVA) approach are the new type of NICE guidance to provide rapid conditional recommendations on promising health technologies that have the potential to address unmet national needs. NICE evaluates the available evidence to determine if earlier patient and system access in the NHS is appropriate while further evidence is generated.

In January 2025, NICE published one EVA on Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to help detect fractures on X-rays in urgent care: early value assessment and made the following recommendations:

• Four AI technologies (Rayvolve (AZ Med) and TechCare Alert (Milvue) for people of any age; BoneView (Gleamer) and RBfracture (Radiobotics) for children of two years and over) as options to help healthcare professionals detect fractures on X‑rays in urgent care can be used in the NHS during the evidence-generation period;
• More research is needed on qMSK (Qure.ai) before it can be used in the NHS.

Furthermore, in January 2025, NICE published one new clinical guideline, Overweight and obesity management, in which new and updated existing recommendations were provided in multiple areas, including referral criteria for bariatric surgery in adults.

One clinical guideline on Epilepsies in children, young people and adults was updated.

See the full details here.

This news is just one of about 300 market access news collected by our team in the premium subscription service Market Access Monitor every week from more than 80 organizations. Access our paid service to stay on top of all developments specifically for your products in Europe (reimbursement news) and globally (HTA news). Access is organized as an online Database and email alert formats. Contact us to get a free, three-month, no-obligation trial.