Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NICE on its decision not to recommend the use of donanemab and lecanemab for Alzheimer's patients by the NHS.

Department officials regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including the progress of specific appraisals. NICE develops its guidance independently in line with its established methods and processes, and the Department is not able to direct NICE as to the substance of its recommendations. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken by an independent committee on the basis of the available evidence.

NICE has not yet published final guidance on either lecanemab or donanemab. NICE published final draft guidance on 19 June 2025, and stakeholders now have an opportunity to lodge an appeal. NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in July this year.