Dear consultees and commentators,

This letter is to advise you that the Appraisal Committee meeting for the use of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF a) inhibitors (adalimumab, and infliximab [review]) for Crohn's disease, scheduled for 26 March 2008, has been cancelled.

Consultation on the assessment report prepared by the West Midlands Health Technology Assessment Collaboration (University of Birmingham) has raised serious concerns about the completeness and transparency of aspects of the report. These concerns need to be addressed before the Appraisal Committee meets to develop its preliminary recommendations and the Institute issues an appraisal consultation document.

I know that you will be disappointed with this further extension of the timeline for this appraisal, but I hope you agree that the way forward outlined above will enable the development of a complete evidence base that appropriately informs the Appraisal Committee's deliberations.

Thank you again for your input into this appraisal. We will keep you informed of next steps, but if you have any questions or queries in the meantime, please contact the Project Manager for this appraisal, Ms Eloise Saile, at eloise.saile@nice.org.uk or by phone: 020 7045 2243.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Carole Longson

Director

Centre for Health Technology Evaluation