The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has advised that sevelamer carbonate (Renvela®) is not recommended for use within NHS Scotland for the control of hyperphosphataemia in adults receiving haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.

The Committee states that although sevelamer carbonate has been shown to be therapeutically equivalent to sevelamer hydrochloride for the control of hyperphosphataemia in adult haemodialysis patients, the manufacturer presented an economic case based on sevelamer carbonate being used as a first-line treatment as an alternative to calcium-based binders in patients new to dialysis, and the case was not sufficiently robust to gain acceptance by the SMC.

Furthermore, because the manufacturer’s submission related only to the control of hyperphosphataemia in adults receiving dialysis, the SMC cannot recommend the use of sevelamer carbonate in pre-dialysis patients.