The IQWiG has published an updated version of its general methods in Germany

On December 6, 2022, the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) presented an updated draft version (7.0) of its general methods. The interested parties can submit written comments until the deadline of January 31, 2023.

The most important changes are listed below:

• The cost-benefit assessment of new drugs was fundamentally revised;
• The IQWiG introduced the description of the procedure when it is commissioned by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) to create an application-accompanying data collection (AbD) concept specifically relevant to the case of evaluation of orphan drugs;
• The understanding of evidence-based medicine was significantly revised;
• The IQWiG renamed the scientific assessments of examination and treatment procedures created as part of the ThemenCheck Medizin service: these assessments, which are always based on proposals from citizens, will now be called ThemenCheck reports instead of HTA reports.

The IQWiG's general methods document describes in detail and transparently the scientific standards according to which the Institute assesses the benefits and harms of medical measures. The paper is being updated regularly; version 6.1 was published in late January 2022.

The full details in German can be found here and here.

This news is just one of about 300 market access news collected by our team in the subscription services "HTA Alerts" and "Reimbursement Alerts" every two weeks from more than 80 organizations. Access our paid subscription services to stay on top of all developments specifically for your products in Europe (reimbursement news) and globally (HTA news).

Not ready for a subscription service? Subscribe to our free-of-charge newsletter delivered every second week to get updates about key reimbursement developments in Europe (10-12 news every two weeks). First EU issues of both newsletters are available for download free-of-charge.