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

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).