Reimb expansion for Tevimbra’s five indications under drug price negotiations

Gastric cancer and NSCLC indications have passed the Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (PREC) in June

Roche’s immunotherapy 'Tecentriq' has also entered drug price negotiations

Product photo of Tevimbra 

BeOne Medicines Korea’s immunotherapy, Tevimbra Inj (tislelizumab), has entered drug price negotiations with the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to expand reimbursement coverage for five indications.

Additionally, Roche Korea’s immunotherapy Tecentriq Inj (atezolizumab) has also entered negotiations for adjuvant therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

​According to industry sources, on July 19, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) issued price negotiation orders to the NHIS for Tecentriq and Tevimbra. These medications were recognized for their appropriateness for reimbursement expansion during the recent 5th and 6th Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (PREC) meetings.

Tevimbra is the product that has secured the highest number of approved indications among the pharmaceuticals reviewed for reimbursement expansion during the 1st to 7th PREC meetings this year.

​The company is seeking to expand reimbursement across five indications, including monotherapy and combination therapy for non-small cell lung cancer, as well as first-line combination therapies for gastric cancer and esophageal cancer.

​Currently, the only reimbursed indication for Tevimbra is second-line combination therapy for esophageal cancer. In April last year, it successfully secured its initial reimbursement listing for esophageal cancer ahead of other immunotherapies with the same mechanism of action, such as Keytruda and Opdivo.

Once this indication expansion is implemented, competition with blockbuster drugs like Keytruda and Opdivo is expected to intensify. Patient access to treatment is anticipated to strengthen as additional therapeutic options become available.

​However, price negotiations for multi-indication immunotherapies, which pose a heavy burden on the national health insurance budget, are rarely easy. Given that the share of oncological drugs within overall pharmaceutical expenditures is rising substantially, detailed negotiations regarding the application of complex Risk Sharing Agreements (RSAs) and refund rates will be the key determining factors.

Yet, during its initial reimbursement listing last year, Tevimbra was well-received for enhancing patient access to a reasonably priced drug. As market competition intensifies, it can positively impact the insurance budget, a favorable factor in upcoming price negotiations.

Product photo of ​Tecentriq

If BeOne successfully clears the hurdle of NHIS negotiations, it is expected to proceed with a listing in the fourth quarter of this year.

​Roche Korea’s immunotherapy Tecentriq has also recently commenced price negotiations. In May, the PREC approved reimbursement expansion appropriateness as an "adjuvant therapy following resection and platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer."

​Tecentriq garnered significant attention in 2022 as the first immunotherapy to receive regulatory approval for adjuvant therapy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. It is now awaiting a reimbursement expansion after approximately four years.