Breakthrough menopause drug that targets key symptom approved for use in UK

18 December 2023 , 11:09

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Thousands of women could be helped (Image: Getty Images/Tetra images RF)

A game-changing drug that could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of women across the country who have a key menopause symptom has been approved for use in the UK

Veoza, also known as fezolinetant, which targets hot flushes was approved in May in the USA and has now got the green light for the use in the NHS too. Up to 80% of women who go through the menopause are affected by hot flushes, according to the NHS. Veoza works by blocking a protein in the brain called neurokinin-3, which plays a role in regulating body temperature in menopausal women.

Hot flushes can vary from woman to woman and can last from a few seconds of feeling overheated to an hour of profuse sweating that can disrupt sleep, work, or daily activities. The drug will not address the huge wide range of symptoms that some women can experience, including fatigue, muscle weakness and mood swings.

Professor Waljit Dhillo, an endocrinologist at Imperial College London who led a 2017 trial that led to the drug's development, told The Guardian: "This is going to be a completely blockbuster drug. It's like a switch. Within a day or two the flushes go away. It's unbelievable how well these drugs work. It's going to be completely game changing for a lot of women."

Hot flushes can be life changing (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Interim executive director of healthcare quality and access at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Julian Beach told Sky News: "Hot flushes and night sweats caused by menopause are common, and can have a significant impact on a woman's daily life.

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"We are therefore pleased to have authorised Veoza (fezolinetant) for hot flushes and night sweats caused by menopause via our reliance procedure. No medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness, and we continue to keep the safety of all medicines under close review."

Kelly-Ann Mills