CER Daily Newsfeed

Value Viewpoint: January 24, 2025

(1/24, Kimberly Westrich, LinkedIn) comments “...I have mixed feelings about the [ICER] Fair Access report, which had a laudable goal of holding payers accountable for providing ‘fair’ access to patients but never really had the data or visibility to do so. While it is premature to judge the new report before seeing the proposed methodology, it may suffer from significant blind spots, such as the immaturity of net pricing data adjacent to launch and not including evidence on the holistic value of medicines.” Full

Cyclophosphamide, Calcineurin Inhibitors Equally Effective for Pediatric Nephrotic Syndrome

(1/27, Abigail Brooks, MA, HCPLive) reports “Cyclophosphamide and calcineurin inhibitors show comparable efficacy in preventing childhood nephrotic syndrome relapses, with no significant differences in relapse timing or rates. The study involved 578 children from the INSIGHT cohort, with a median follow-up of 5.5 years, assessing relapse and kidney function outcomes.” Full

Real-World Effectiveness of GLP-1 RA vs DPP4i in Moderate to Severe CKD Explored

(1/27, Natasha Persaud, Renal + Urology News) reports “Real-world data show that treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) slows chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression and reduces all-cause mortality risk compared with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) in male patients with moderate to severe CKD and type 2 diabetes. GLP1-RA does not appear to further reduce the risk for cardiovascular events.” Full

Health Agencies Recommend Best Practices for Using Surrogate Endpoints

(1/24, Joanne S. Eglovitch, Regulatory Focus) reports “...Canada’s Drug Agency stated that when surrogate endpoints are used in drug submissions for reimbursement review, its committees may lack sufficient evidence to approve reimbursement. The committees ‘need to understand the relationship between short-term effects and long-term outcomes in order to make accurate predictions about the long-term health effects of new drugs.’” Full

INAMI to Head New Consortium of EU Drug Assessment Agencies

(1/24, The Brussels Times) reports “Belgium's National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance, INAMI, is to lead a new consortium of health technology assessment agencies from European Union Member States, the institute announced in a statement on Friday.” Full