Proposal to widen access to febuxostat to treat gout

Overview

We propose to fund febuxostat, from 1 February 2027, for people with gout

• whose symptoms cannot be adequately controlled with allopurinol or
• who cannot tolerate allopurinol.

The proposed implementation date of 1 February 2027 is to ensure the supplier has enough time to manufacture more stock to meet the demand.

Currently, people must trial two other medicines, allopurinol and probenecid, before becoming eligible for funded febuxostat. The changes would remove the requirement to trial probenecid. This would give patients and clinicians two options for second-line treatment: febuxostat or probenecid.

We estimate that around 5,500 people would benefit from treatment within the first year of funding. This would increase to 7,300 people by year 5.