IQWiG participates in European benefit assessments of oncology drugs
The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) is involved in the Joint European Clinical Assessment (JCA) of medicinal products. Since March 2025, IQWiG has been involved in the evaluation of the active ingredient tovorafenib, which is used for children and adolescents with low-grade glioma. In this procedure, the Irish National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) takes on the role of assessor, while IQWiG acts as co-assessor. The evaluation is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2026, shortly after the expected approval of the active substance.
In addition, IQWiG is currently involved as an assessor in three further JCAs of oncological agents, which are scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2026. Partners in these projects are the Portuguese Infarmed, the Hungarian National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy (NCPHP) and the Slovenian Quality Health Care Agency.
The European Health Technology Assessments (EU-HTA) were launched in January 2025 for oncology agents and advanced therapies such as gene therapeutics. From 2028, medicines for rare diseases are to be included and from 2030 all newly authorised medicines. From 2026, assessments for selected high-risk medical devices are also planned. The aim is to provide EU member states with scientifically sound evidence assessments for decisions in their health systems.
In the JCAs, two HTA agencies from different countries work together as assessor and co-assessor. They define the questions of the member states (PICOs) and evaluate the evidence in comparison to the local standard of care. The JCAs support national decisions, but do not replace them. In Germany, the JCA is followed by a national added benefit assessment in the AMNOG procedure with a decision by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA).
Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR
Gender Notice. The personal designations used in this text always refer equally to female, male and diverse persons. Double/triple naming and gendered designations are used for better readability. ected.
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