Bris­tol My­ers ax­es Ger­man launch of new can­cer drug, cit­ing pric­ing hur­dles

Fol­low­ing its Eu­ro­pean ap­proval last Sep­tem­ber, Bris­tol My­ers Squibb has de­cid­ed not to launch Op­du­alag, an in­fu­sion of the phar­ma gi­ant’s Op­di­vo and new an­ti­body re­latlimab, in Ger­many due to pric­ing pres­sures. The drug won ap­proval to treat ad­vanced melanoma in adults and ado­les­cents aged 12 years and old­er.

Per a Bris­tol My­ers spokesper­son, Op­du­alag won’t be mar­ket­ed in Ger­many “for the fore­see­able fu­ture,” as the coun­try’s drug pric­ing law from 2010 makes it so that the phar­ma gi­ant “sees no pos­si­bil­i­ty to achieve a ben­e­fit rat­ing from the G-BA [Gemein­samer Bun­de­sauss­chuss] for Op­du­alag.”

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