NICE and IQWiG say more data needed on Bayer's Vitrakvi

According to the UK’s health technology assessor, German pharma major Bayer’s (BAYN: DE) Vitrakvi (larotrectinib), a new treatment for a range of cancers, can’t be recommended for use in the National Health Service (NHS) because at its current price, it doesn’t have the potential to be cost-effective.

Another histology independent treatment, Rozlytrek (entrectinib) made by Roche (ROG: SIX), which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is also appraising could become the first histology independent treatment to be available to patients, provided it receives its marketing authorisation. NICE will be able to say more on this following a preliminary decision on its European licence.

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) also published its own review of Vitrakvi last week, concluding that "data are not yet sufficient for derivation of an added benefit." The drug gained European approval in September as the first treatment in the European Union to receive a tumor-agnostic indication. It is also approved in the USA, Brazil and Canada.