IQWiG, and independent drug assessment body in Germany, is pushing for direct comparison data in a new class of cancer immunotherapies.
The move comes as the watchdog speaks out against what it says is a lack of data in the class of immunotherapies, suggesting physicians could be either overwhelmed or misled by available data, according to a Reuters report.
IQWiG says patients unaffected by previous rounds of standard chemotherapy could see potential benefits from Keytruda (Merck & Co) and Tecentriq (Roche), but that head-to-head drug trials are necessary for physicians to select the better treatment option.
“The procedure of the early benefit assessment does unfortunately not allow a comparison of new drugs against each other,” Juergen Windeler, IQWiG’s director, said in a statement. “Such a measure appears to be almost indispensable in the case of urothelial (bladder) carcinoma: We now have three drugs for the same therapeutic indication, but are unable to reasonably relate the assessment results to each other.”
