IQWiG finds no added benefit for GSK's Anoro Ellipta in COPD

According to the findings of an early benefit assessment under the German Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) says that no added benefit was proven for UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline's (LSE: GSK) Anoro Ellipta (vilanterol/umeclidinium).

For patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity and patients with fewer than two acute flare-ups (exacerbations) per year, evaluable data were only available on the outcomes “dyspnoea” and “health-related quality of life.” However, these data showed no differences in comparison with tiotropium. For higher severity grades with more exacerbations, the drug manufacturer presented no evaluable analyses at all, said the IQWiG.

Data only for patients with few exacerbations