San Francisco, CA USA (UroToday.com) -- PROCEPT BioRobotics Corporation, a Silicon Valley robotics company developing intelligent surgical solutions to transform the field of urology, has announced that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom (UK) has issued an Interventional Procedure Guidance (IPG) recommendation approving the use of Aquablation® therapy as an alternative to other surgical techniques for the treatment of BPH, a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate. The recommendation opens the door for wider spread use in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
Additionally, the company announced that the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted approval for a New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP), which provides incremental payment for devices used in the inpatient setting for Aquablation therapy with the AquaBeam® Robotic System. The NTAP program is only available to new technologies meeting a number of criteria including demonstrating substantial clinical improvement over existing surgical techniques.
“The NICE guidance is the first step in gaining full endorsement for widespread use of Aquablation in the UK,” said Nikolai Aljuri, PhD, PROCEPT BioRobotics co-founder, CEO and president. “In addition, the recent CMS NTAP designation recognizes Aquablation therapy as a substantial clinical improvement compared to other surgical techniques for BPH and aligns with our vision of making Aquablation therapy the new standard of care and treatment of choice for BPH.”
“Studies comparing Aquablation therapy to TURP demonstrate that this new approach delivers outcomes like TURP but with a far lower risk of sexual dysfunction,” said Neil Barber, consultant urological surgeon at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey. “The AquaBeam Robotic System offers a solution for patients regardless of prostate size and shape. The procedure is predictable and has provided reproducible outcomes, as it allows me to plan the surgery via ultrasound and then perform a controlled resection of the prostate via the autonomous AquaBeam robot.”Full guidance document. NICE will review this guidance on Aquablation again in 2021.