Lilly’s Lartruvo Withdrawal Stirs Questions About Payment For Accelerated Approval Drugs

News that the soft tissue sarcoma drug will come off the market after its confirmatory trial failed to verify clinical benefit spurs Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s Peter Bach to ask whether Lilly will refund money to payers.

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Lartruvo is coming off the market, thanks to a failed confirmatory study. • Source: Shutterstock

The market withdrawal of Eli Lilly & Co.’s soft tissue sarcoma drug Lartruvo (olaratumab) has renewed criticism about the US Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated approval pathway and how novel drugs that lack confirmation of clinical benefit are reimbursed.

Lilly announced 25 April that it planned to withdraw olaratumab from the market globally and is working to establish programs to ensure patients

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