NICE grants final approval to Shire's Resolor

The National Institure for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has granted final approval for Resolor (prucalopride) to be used by the NHS for symptomatic treatment of chronic constipation in women in whom laxatives fail to provide adequate relief

The drug has been recommended where treatment with at least two laxatives from different classes at the highest tolerated recommended doses for at least six months, has failed to provide adequate relief and invasive treatment for constipation is being considered. 

Resolor is the first selective high-affinity serotonin (5-HT4) receptor agonist, which unlike laxatives directly stimulates receptors involved in gut motility, thereby helping to restore normal bowel movements.

Dr Anton Emmanuel, consultant gastroenterologist & senior lecturer in neurogastroenterology commented: "The NICE appraisal of prucalopride is a significant development in the management of chronic constipation in women. It offers these long-suffering female patients a novel alternative where laxatives have failed to improve symptoms.

"For these individuals the alternatives may have been invasive hospital-based therapies, so the drug has a discrete place in the treatment pathway. The drug represents the first in this class of treatment for patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders for over 25 years."