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(Reuters) - A German regulator for new drugs has suspended the assessment of the Western world's first gene therapy, UniQure's Glybera, after an adviser to the European drugs watchdog voiced concern over the treatment.

Glybera, designed to treat a very rare blood disease, came with a preliminary price tag of 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million), before standard German drug pricing discounts.

German body G-BA was due to issue an assessment of the drug's benefits by the end of this month but it said late on Thursday it had decided to miss the legal deadline to get more clarity on the drug's benefits.

An adviser for biotech drugs to the European Medicines Agency, a so-called rapporteur, last week said in a report that Glybera, which is marketed by UniQure's unlisted Italian marketing partner Chiesi, lacked efficacy.

"Even if the suspension of the procedure violates the legal deadline, the decision is justified and without alternative," G-BA head Josef Hecken said in a statement.

"Judging from the statements about the rapporteur's report, his findings must be worrisome."

The European Medicines Agency's CHMP committee...