Two Covid19 treatments -- Pfizer's Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) and Gilead's Veklury (remdesivir) -- will be covered by health insurance next month.

Takeda's ovarian cancer drug Zejula (niraparib) will receive expanded reimbursement, lowering its upper limit price.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare held the Health Insurance Policy Review committee on Thursday and approved the Amendment to the Drug Benefit List and Benefit Limit Amount Table to this effect.

By applying health insurance coverage to Covid-19 drugs, the reimbursement cap for Paxlovid was set at 941,940 won ($714) per pack (30 tablets) and Vekluri at 520,000 won per bottle.

The government had provided Covid-19 drugs free of charge during the pandemic. Since May, however, it has imposed a copayment of 50,000 won, or 5 percent of the drug price.

With the registry on the reimbursement list, the ministry plans to revise relevant laws to reduce patient copayments not to exceed the current level of 50,000 won, helping ensure a stable supply of Covid-19 drugs to patients.

From Oct. 1, Zejula's coverage will be expanded to include first-line maintenance therapy for platinum-sensitive advanced ovarian cancer patients.

The reimbursement criteria will change from “BRCA mutation-positive” to “homologous recombination deficiency (HRd)-positive” patients, and the reimbursement ceiling will be reduced to 56,576 won per capsule.

Patients with advanced ovarian cancer have paid about 41 million won per person yearly in drug costs. However, the new health insurance application will reduce the cost to 2.05 million won (with a 5 percent copayment).

“We expect to support the stable supply of therapeutic drugs through the inclusion of Covid-19 drugs in health insurance while maintaining the current deductible level and reducing the burden on patients by expanding coverage for ovarian cancer drugs,” the ministry said.