Britain’s cost-effectiveness healthcare watchdog NICE says it will rule on Monday whether Alzheimer’s drugs that can help, but not cure, some patients should continue to be used within the state health service.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) outraged patients and drug makers last year with a preliminary decision that so-called anti-cholinesterase drugs were not worth the money.

But it put off implementing a ban on using the pills in newly diagnosed Alzheimer’s patients pending more evidence of their potential benefits in certain patient groups.

The final NICE ruling is likely to be monitored by governments around the world, who increasingly have to weigh up the benefits of modern medicines against their price.

The drugs cost around 1,000 pounds ($1,758) per patient a year.

Some industry insiders speculate NICE may try and find a compromise solution, allowing use of the drugs in a limited setting.

Pfizer Inc and Eisai Co Ltd’s Aricept is the market leader among anti-cholinesterase treatments. Rival products include Reminyl, from Johnson & Johnson and Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc, and Novartis AG’s Exelon, both of which are used like Aricept to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.

The fourth drug, Ebixa, is made by Lundbeck and is given to patients with more serious disease.

Alzheimer’s is a growing problem around the globe, with a team of international researchers recently predicting the number of people suffering from dementia was set to double every 20 years and could reach more than 81 million worldwide by 2040.