IQWiG finds no hint of added benefit for Amgen's Repatha

22 December 2015

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined a dossier to assess whether evolocumab offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.

Evolocumab, marketed as Repatha by US biotech major Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), has been approved since the summer (The Pharma Letter July 21) for two therapeutic indications: on the one hand, for hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia, and on the other, for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. The drug is an option for patients whose cholesterol levels are not adequately lowered by diet and other drugs.

However, the IQWiG said that, due to a lack of suitable data, no such added benefit can be derived from the dossier for any of the two therapeutic indications. Just last month, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK equivalent of the IQWiG, also rejected recommending Repatha as not being cost-effective (TPL November 18).

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Try before you buy

Free

7 day trial access

Take a Free Trial

All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.

Become a subscriber

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now

Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription

The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK