[Reporter's view] Reimbursement of Zerbaxa

Super antibiotic Zerbaxa will receive insurance benefits from this month.

 

It is the first time in about five years that a domestic permit has been granted.

 

The government's response to the application of the PE system to some of the national essential drugs, especially in the face of the seriousness of antibiotic resistance issues internationally, has made new antibiotic drugs.

 

Even though it is not a "life-threatening disease," the need for important drugs has been recognized.

 

Zerbaxa was approved in Korea in April 2017, but the prevailing view was that it was difficult to register under the system at the time.

 

This is because new antibiotic drugs are not easy to prove cost-effectiveness compared to existing conventional drugs, and it is difficult to prove clinical superiority due to the nature of the drug.

 

In fact, an application for Zerbaxa was submitted in the second half of 2018 and went through the procedure, but failed to pass the HIRA Drug Benefit Evaluation Committee in 2019.

 

Since then, the government has implemented an improvement plan to include essential drugs such as antibiotics in PE targets as a way to expand coverage.

 

The government designated antibiotics as PE targets, limiting the scope of antibiotics to antibacterial agents such as Zerbaxa.

 

The medical concept of antibiotics refers to antimicrobial medics, which encompasses antimicrobial agents (treatment of bacterial infections), antimicrobial agents (treatment of fungal infections), and antiviral drugs (treatment of viral infections).

 

This continuous increase in antimicrobial resistance is considered the most important public health agenda worldwide.

 

The WHO defines the concept of AMR as 'a threat to the effective prevention and treatment of continuously increasing infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi'.

 

AMR is not limited to the well-known superbacterial outbreak problem.

 

Antibiotic resistance, also called Superbugs, refers to changes that occur when microorganisms (such as fungi, viruses, parasites, etc.) that cause infection, including bacteria, are exposed to antibiotics, antifungal drugs, and antibacterial drugs.

 

In fact, the real liberation of antibiotics has not been achieved.

 

As the benefits of step by step one goes a long way.

 

Zerbaxa began, the medical environment in Korea has improved little by step.

 

With a round of applause, it adds to the remaining concerns.