IQWiG finds minor added benefit for Brilinta and Portrazza

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) assessed the added benefit of ticagrelor for patients with acute coronary syndrome already in 2011 in its very first dossier assessment, just after the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) had come into force.

Anglo-Swedish pharma firm AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) Brilinta (ticagrelor) was shown then that the drug provided considerable added benefit to patients with mild myocardial infarction without the typical changes in the ECG or with unstable angina pectoris. There was no corresponding proof for severe myocardial infarction.

The approval has now been expanded: Ticagrelor is approved for co-administration with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) for prevention of atherothrombotic events after an initial one-year treatment also in specific patients whose myocardial infarction occurred at least one year ago. The IQWiG investigated whether the drug has advantages in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy also for this therapeutic indication. According to the findings, there is an indication of an added benefit with the extent “minor.”