english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2019 > The annual Prescrire Awards are given out in Paris: 5 winning drugs, but no "Pilule d'Or"

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The annual Prescrire Awards are given out in Paris: 5 winning drugs, but no "Pilule d'Or"

Palmarès des médicaments de Prescrire The independent French medical journal Prescrire announced its Drug Awards for 2018, at its yearly awards ceremony in Paris on 31 January. There was no "Pilule d'Or" (Golden Pill) award, but two drugs made the "Honours List" and three others were recognised as "Noteworthy".


Every month, the independent French journal Prescrire publishes systematic, independent analyses of the available evidence regarding new drugs, newly authorised indications for drugs already on the market, and new forms or new dosages of existing drugs. The goal is to single out, amidst the multitude of new products, those which deserve to be added to the list of useful therapeutic options, or to ought to replace other drugs. 

In 2018, as in the last three years, no new products have been deemed to constitute a therapeutic advance sufficient to qualify it for a "Pilule d'Or" (Golden Pill) Award. Nevertheless, five drugs received a Prescrire Award for 2018. Two were named to the "Honours List", since they were found to constitute a clear advance for some patients compared with existing therapeutic options, albeit with limitations: sebelipase alfa (Kanuma°), for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency, in infants under the age of 6 months; and naloxone nasal spray (Nalscue°), as emergency treatment of opioid overdose at home or in other non-medical settings.

Drugs that are deemed "Noteworthy" provide a modest improvement in patient care. Such is the case for the naloxone kit for IM injection (Prenoxad°), as emergency treatment of opioid overdose at home or in other non-medical settings; the lidocaine + prilocaine combination (Fortacin°) for primary premature ejaculation;  and arsenic trioxide (Trisenox°) in acute promyelocytic leukaemia at low or intermediate risk of relapse, in combination with tretinoin.

> The Prescrire Awards for 2018 (Free)

©Prescrire 1 February 2019

"The Prescrire Awards for 2018" Prescrire Int 2019; 28 (202): 78-82. (Pdf, free)

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Download the full review.
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The Prescrire
Awards for 2018
(January 2019)
Free