The drug combination umeclidinium/vilanterol (trade name Anoro) was approved by the European Commission in May 2014 for the treatment of adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has conducted an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Pharmaceutical Market Restructuring Act (AMNOG) to determine whether this drug combination compared to an appropriate comparator therapy offers an additional therapeutic benefit.

An additional benefit is not proven: for patients with moderate COPD and patients with less than two acute exacerbations per year, the only actionable data relate to the endpoints of dyspnea and health-related quality of life. These data show no differences compared to tiotropium bromide monohydrate. For higher degrees of severity with more exacerbations, the manufacturer provided no useful data.

For more details, go to: https://www.iqwig.de/de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen/kein-zusatznutzen-belegt-fur-umeclidinium/vilanterol-bei-copd.6355.html?&et_cid=4&et_lid=%25208 [German]