The government said it has completed the negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to retrieve health insurance for choline alfoscerate, adjuvant therapy for dementia.

The talks had been dragging for nine months since Dec. 14.

Daewoong Bio’s Gliatamin (right) and Chong Kun Dang’s Gliatilin are leading the choline alfoscerate market in Korea.
Daewoong Bio’s Gliatamin (right) and Chong Kun Dang’s Gliatilin are leading the choline alfoscerate market in Korea.

On Wednesday, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said that some drugmakers, which had refused to agree on the government’s plan, finally accepted NHIS’ proposal to recollect partial health insurance covered for the drug. Fifty-eight companies, including Daewoong Bio, the largest recipient of insurance claims for choline alfoscerate, agreed on the government’s plan.

The 58 drugmakers agreed that the government could recollect 20 percent of health insurance paid for choline alfoscerate. The decision on the 20 percent rate was based on overseas health insurance cases and the recollection plan made in 2011 when the government reorganized the list of reimbursable drugs, the NHIS said.

The government said it would apply various retrieval methods, including single collection, differential redemption by period, and drug price cut, depending on companies. The government is also reviewing up to five-year installment payments. In September last year, the health and welfare ministry limited reimbursement for choline alfoscerate due to the need to re-evaluate its eligibility for health insurance coverage, amid controversy over the treatment’s clinical usefulness.

The NHIS said it would prevent a similar mishap granting health insurance benefits for a drug with unclear clinical benefits.

Lee Sang-il, executive director for the benefit at the NHIS, told reporters on Tuesday that some choline alfoscerate makers’ request for a court to suspend the execution of the reduced insurance benefits has been dismissed, and the only major lawsuit was going on.

“Although we cannot rule out a possibility of a similar lawsuit in the future, we will come up with response measures through consultations with relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA),” Lee said

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