G-BA finds 'slight' benefit for Halaven

Germany's Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) said in a final benefit assessment that breast cancer drug Halaven eribulin mesylate from Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4523; Osaka:4523) provides a "slight" degree of additional benefit over chemotherapy in a subgroup of patients who are no longer eligible for treatment with taxanes or anthracyclines. G-BA compared Halaven to monotherapy consisting of capecitabine or vinorelbine. G-BA added that Halaven is inferior to anthracycline or taxane-containing therapy in patients for whom this treatment is still an option. In February, a preliminary benefit assessment from the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) found no additional benefit for Halaven in any patient groups (see BioCentury Extra, Feb. 1).

Separately, G-BA issued a final assessment that found no additional benefit for Dupuytren's contracture drug Xiapex collagenase clostridium histolyticum because the dossier submitted by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was incomplete. The assessment is in line with IQWiG's preliminary assessment in February (see BioCentury Extra, Feb. 1). ...