Ocrevus, DM Duo reimbursed from March

Prolia’s reimbursement standards were partially amended due to the planned listing of Prolia biosimilars

Roche's new multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Hyundai Pharm’s first dementia combination drug DM Duo (donepezil + memantine) will be reimbursed by Korea’s national health insurance starting next month.

 

Amgen's osteoporosis drug Prolia will see some changes to its reimbursement standard as Celltrion's biosimilar Stoboclo is soon to be listed on the National Health Insurance reimbursement list.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 20th that it has issued a pre-announcement of administration regarding the details of the application criteria and methods for the reimbursement of pharmaceuticals.

 

The new multiple sclerosis drug, Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), will be reimbursed from March 1.

 

Reimbursement for the drug is granted for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who meet the McDonald ('17) diagnostic criteria and can exclude the occurrence of other similar diseases who have failed or are intolerant of first-line treatment (Interferon β-1b, etc.) and is ambulatory (able to walk).

 

In patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), treatment should be discontinued when the EDSS score evaluated every six months from the first dose is 7.0 or higher.

 

The treatment method is monotherapy.

 

Hyundai Pharm’s DM Duo (donepezil + memantine), the first dementia combination drug in Korea, will also be reimbursed in March.

 

Patients with moderate to severe dementia of the Alzheimer's type who meet the criteria for both the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 20 or less and the Dementia Scale Examination are eligible for reimbursement.

 

Re-evaluation is conducted every 6 to 12 months to determine whether to continue administration, and continued administration is granted even if the MMSE score exceeds 20 during re-evaluations.

 

However, when concurrently using DM Duo, Tanamin Tab, and Ginexin F Tab, the patient must pay the full cost of one of the drugs with the lowest cost of treatment within the scope of the drugs’ indications.

 

Prolia’s reimbursement standard will change as the Celltrion biosimilar Stoboclo Prefilled Syringe’s imminent reimbursement listing.

 

The standard change is to apply the same standards for the denosumab injection and add 'etc.' to the name of the product category in the notice.