No hint of added benefit seen for Lundbeck’s Brintellix, says IQWiG

Following an assessment of a dossier from Danish CNS specialist Lundbeck (LUN: CO) for its drug Brintellix (vortioxetine), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has concluded that no added benefit for the product in the treatment of depression can be derived based on the evaluable data.

The Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) distinguished between three patient groups depending on the severity of the disease and specified a different appropriate comparator therapy for each of them: no drug treatment for mild episodes of depression, an antidepressant from the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for moderate episodes and a combination of an SSRI and an offer of psychotherapy for severe episodes. In addition, differentiation between acute treatment and relapse prevention can be inferred from the Summary of Product Characteristics.

Only acute treatment investigated