Dr Paul Hooper, the managing director of Eisai UK and the driving force behind the industry's fight over access to Alzheimer's drugs has died.

Dr Hooper, aged 55, passed away suddenly after suffering a heart attack at home on 29 January, leaving behind his wife and two children.

Managing director of Eisai's UK division for 10 years, Dr Hooper had enjoyed a distinguished career, having trained as a physician and practising as a dental surgeon for a time. He moved into the industry with posts including medical director at Roche, but it is his work at Eisai for which he will be remembered most.

Dr Hooper took on the top job at Eisai UK in 1997, and his arrival coincided with the launch of Aricept, the first product for the previously unmet need in Alzheimer's disease.

Co-marketing the product with Pfizer, the companies initially struggled to bring the drug to patients around the country who could benefit from it, with postcode prescribing and prescribing conservatism blocking access to the drug.

In January 2001, NICE recommended the use of Aricept and other drugs on the NHS, but when it decided to reverse this decision, Alzheimer's campaigners, many of the Royal Colleges and manufacturers united against the plans.

The battle culminated in a judicial review in the High Court last August, with Dr Hooper leading a dedicated team at Eisai in a challenge against NICE's decision making process.

The team at Eisai had been preparing one final legal challenge to the decision through the Court of Appeal when Dr Hooper suddenly died, but the company says it will continue the battle on behalf of patients.

Andrew Day, Eisai's European director of public affairs, said: "Paul had a strong personal commitment to the case, but his death doesn't mean we are giving up on fighting for the right of patients to receive treatment. We will move forward as planned."

The judicial review questioned the recommendation from NICE that drugs for Alzheimer's should only be prescribed to those in the moderate stage of the disease, and resulted in a ruling that favoured NICE on two of the three grounds brought against it.

In April the company will appear in court once more to appeal against the decision. The Alzheimer's Society was closely involved in the case and a spokesman for the organisation expressed its sadness at news of Dr Hooper's death, and said it would continue to follow the outcome of the appeal closely.

Court costs

Despite mass media coverage of the case last summer, it was not widely reported that NICE was ordered to pay 40% of Eisai's legal costs ¿ a decision that seems to undercut the court's backing of NICE's processes. The institute is processing its own appeal against the ruling, but the legal battle could eventually cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Information obtained by Pharmafocus via the Freedom of Information Act reveals NICE has already spent £356,000 on its own legal fees defending its recommendation on Alzheimer's drugs. If the organisation is forced to pay part of Eisai's court bill (which is understood to be a similar if not a bigger sum) the figure could easily exceed half a million pounds.

pharmafocus@wiley.co.uk