Insurance benefits for Hemlibra (emicizumab), a hemophilia A treatment supplied by JW Pharmaceutical, will likely be expanded to non-antibody patients, helping to ease their financial burden.
The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) held a drug benefit evaluation committee on Thursday and decided to expand insurance coverage to hemophilia A patients without antibodies. HIRA will report the decision to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and begin negotiations with JW Pharmaceutical to determine new drug prices.
Hemlibra is a hemophilia A treatment developed by Chugai Pharmaceutical, a Japanese subsidiary of Swiss-based multinational pharma company Roche. JW secured domestic development and sales right in 2017 and won approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2019.
Hemlibra is a preventive treatment for hemophilia A caused by the deficiency of blood coagulation factor 8 called hemoglobin.
It mimics the mechanism of blood coagulation of factor 8. The drug received the spotlight as a new treatment by applying dual-specific antibody technology that binds to blood coagulation factor 9 and factor 10.
Hemlibra is the only type A hemophilia treatment without the risk of producing antibodies (resistance). Therefore, general hemophilia A patients without antibodies, the so-called non-antibody patients, can also use it, aside from those with antibodies (resistance) to existing treatments that supplement factor 8.
Until now, non-antibody patients have not been eligible for benefits. However, they will also enjoy insurance benefits with the latest decision. It has been three years since JW Pharmaceutical applied to expand Hemlibra's insurance coverage in July 2020.
In September 2021, the health and welfare ministry approved easing the standard of coverage for Hemlibra in treating pediatric hemophilia A patients without antibodies.
At the time, the company said, “We will try to ensure that patients with hemophilia A who do not have antibodies receive insurance benefits as soon as possible.”