The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s health insurance policy committee set the reimbursement price of Fexuclue (fexuprazan), a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) developed by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, at 939 won ($0.73) per tablet. Fexuclue is the nation’s 34th novel drug.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the committee set the upper limit of reimbursement price of four drugs containing the same ingredient – Daewoong’s Fexuclue Tab., Hanall Biopharma’s Abcito Tab., Daewoong Bio’s We Cap Tab., and iN Therapeutics’ Veloxcab Tab. – at 939 won per tablet. Hanall Biopharma, Daewoong Bio, and iN Therapeutics are affiliated with Daewoong Pharmaceutical.
The reimbursement price will take effect from July 1.
Fexuclue is a locally developed P-CAB treatment that obtained approval in December last year.
In the reimbursement review, the government said Fexuclue offered clinical usefulness similar to that of alternative drugs such as K-Cab (tegoprazan) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and better cost-effectiveness (90 percent of the weighted average price of alternative drugs).
Related medical societies such as the Korean Society of Gastroenterology also said that Fexuclue showed benefits similar to those of alternative drugs. Accordingly, the government decided to grant reimbursement to Fexucluewhen treating erosive GERD.
The government lowered the upper limit of the reimbursement price of Kadcyla Inj. 100mg and 160mg, an anticancer drug by Roche Korea, because the use of the drug has been expanded in Korea.
Kadcyla will also become reimbursable as postoperative adjuvant therapy for HER2-positive early breast cancer patients who have invasive residual lesions after receiving taxane- and trastuzumab-based chemotherapy. So far, it was reimbursable only to treat locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
With the broadened insurance coverage, Kadcyla’s reimbursement price fell by 6 percent – 1,956,328 won per bottle for Kadcyla 100mg and 2,930,920 won per bottle for Kadcyla 160mg.
“With the latest decision, health insurance will be applied to new drugs, and insurance coverage will be expanded for existing drugs. This made it possible to increase access to treatment and reduce the burden of medical expenses for patients,” the health and welfare ministry said.