NHS bosses have halted assessment of a pioneering drug from Newcastle used to tackle a rare muscle-wasting condition

NHS chiefs have halted the assessment of a pioneering drug used to tackle a rare muscle-wasting condition.

As reported yesterday, NHS England was expected to make a decision this month on whether to fund Translarna, the first treatment developed for sufferers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Yet it has now paused assessment of the treatment that was devised with the help of experts at Newcastle University and axed a vital meeting on the drug that was due to take place next week. This is thought to be while it reconsiders how it assesses new drugs.

The news has come as a huge disappointment to parents whose child would benefit from the treatment, leading medics and campaign groups backing the groundbreaking drug.

Schoolboy George Pegg has been part of the North Easts clinical trial for the past six years.

The 11-year-old, of Blyth, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy when he was just three-and-a-half years old and is still able to walk unaided.

His parents Lilian, 37, and George, 41, a roofer, have remained as positive as they can for George and their younger son, John, six, who does not have the condition.

Mother-of-two Lilian said: It is absolutely devastating for George and other boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy that NHS England has halted its assessment.

George should receive Translarna for at least another year, but we do not know what will happen after that.

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NHS bosses have halted assessment of a pioneering drug from Newcastle used to tackle a rare muscle-wasting condition