IQWiG finds no hint of added benefit for Novartis' Zykadia in NSCLC

The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether ceritinib offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy. Such an added benefit cannot be derived from the dossier, however, because it contained no data suitable for the assessment, the medicines watchdog body said.

Zykadia (ceritinib) from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) received European Commission approval earlier this year to treat adult patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with crizotinib(The Pharma Letter May 8).

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) distinguished between two research questions: In patients who are eligible for chemotherapy with docetaxel or pemetrexed, ceritinib was to be compared with one of these two drugs.