According to the findings of a recent study, there is an indication of major added benefit of nivolumab over the appropriate comparator therapy for under-75-year-olds.
Nivolumab is an anti-tumor drug from the group of monoclonal antibodies. It has been available since June 2015 under the trade name Opdivo for adults with advanced melanoma, and since July 2015 under the trade name Nivolumab BMS also for adults with metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after prior chemotherapy.
The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), which in October 2015 had already found an added benefit of the drug for patients with advanced melanoma, now examined in another dossier assessment whether nivolumab also offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy in the treatment of NSCLC.
According to the findings, there is an indication of major added benefit of nivolumab over the appropriate comparator therapy docetaxel for under-75-year-olds in relatively good general condition, and a hint of a non-quantifiable added benefit for over-75-year-olds in relatively good general condition. For patients in worse general condition, an added benefit is not proven due to a lack of study data.
