NICE, Andrew Dillon
After 21 years as the chief executive of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, it has been announced that Andrew Dillon will step down from the role.
Dillon has led the institute since its inception in 1999 and his leaving date is set for the end of March, 2020.
NICE’s chair, David Haslam, said, “The role of chief executive of NICE must be one of the most challenging and potentially controversial in British public life.”
The controversy of the role stems from NICE’s role of determining whether a treatment is cost effective for use by the NHS, which can lead to the rejection of therapies that have a higher price tag or that lack long-term data to prove it remains effective into the future.
Dillon’s reputation across the industry is such that Mike Thompson, the outgoing chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, an organization that has occasionally crossed horns with NICE over the assessment of new medicines, reserved praise for the outgoing chief executive.
“[Dillon] has played a central role in building the credibility of the organization, insisting on transparent processes, and a continuous dialogue with all stakeholders, recognizing that as the science evolves, NICE needs to evolve too,” Thomson said.
NICE stated that its board would begin the process of finding a new leader during autumn.