How to make a compelling submission to NICE: tips for sponsoring organisations

Evidence in support of products being assessed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence can be presented in various ways to make products seem more attractive than they really are During health technology appraisals the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) invites sponsors of the technology to make a submission in support of their product. These submissions can be of variable quality. We examine some of the more dubious techniques that can be used by sponsoring organisations to make their products seem attractive to those making reimbursement decisions. Although the following “advice” is based on real examples of submissions to NICE, it should be remembered that similar biases can be found in academic, peer reviewed publications and that such practices are not the preserve of industry. ### Generating the evidence