dailypharmkorea

Opinion
[Reporter’s View] The gap between innovation and access
by Son, Hyung Min Sep 26, 2025 06:12am
Advances in medicine have created pivotal turning points in the course of human survival. Diseases once deemed incurable are gradually being reclassified as chronic conditions. From anticancer drugs to treatments for rare diseases and immunotherapies, innovative new drugs have not only prolonged patients’ lives but also increased the burden of responsibility borne by nations and societies. The problem lies in the fact that the ‘pace of innovation’ and the ‘pace of patient access’ are not on the same track. Korean patients are always left to wait. Even when news arrives that a new drug has been approved in the US or Europe, a gap of 1 to 3 years often exists before patients can actually receive a prescription domestically. This delay is not merely a procedural issue; it represents a lost opportunity for treatment. For a terminal cancer patient, 1 year can be their entire life. This is why it's not uncommon for patients to seek treatment abroad. At the center of this irony lies a uniquely Korean formula: price over innovation. The value of a new drug is first calculated by its burden on the national health insurance budget rather than by its clinical significance and impact on patient survival. While managing insurance finances is clearly a crucial task in national governance, the balance has tilted excessively toward fiscal restraint, depriving patients of the opportunity to timely benefit from innovations. This is also why pharmaceutical companies often push Korea down the priority list in their global launch strategies. The so-called ‘Korea passing’ concern is not an abstract warning but a real risk that delays actual patients' treatment opportunities. The global environment is not favorable either. President Trump’s MFN (Most Favored Nation) drug pricing policy has posed a threat to pricing systems worldwide. Under the pretense of protecting American patients, it targeted countries like Korea that maintain low drug price systems as risk factors. From the perspective of multinational pharmaceutical companies, the incentive to launch drugs in Korea has diminished because protecting prices in the US market has become more critical. In other words, Korea’s low drug prices translate directly into being deprioritized in global market strategies. This leads us to a fundamental question: what is a new drug to the patient? To the government, it may be a budget variable; to companies, a profit variable. But to patients, a new drug is a survival variable. Unless the perspective shifts from “how cheaply can we bring it in” to “how quickly and fairly can it reach patients,” the meaning of innovation becomes powerless in front of patients. Of course, the constraints of the national health insurance budget are an undeniable reality. Within limited resources, it's difficult to unconditionally recognize the value of new drugs and raise their prices. The government isn't sitting idle either. New attempts are being discussed, such as the approval-evaluation linkage pilot project, expansion of risk-sharing schemes, and recently, indication-based pricing. But the fundamental limitations remain. Within the current system, patient access to new drugs inevitably remains low. A radical policy shift is now needed. So what constitutes as ‘radical’? Suggestions include introducing value-based assessment that prioritizes clinical innovation and patient survival outcomes; implementing multi-layered risk-sharing schemes where government, pharmaceutical companies, and society share burdens; and establishing a national strategy vision that enhances international negotiation power and improves patient access. Furthermore, a paradigm shift is needed—one that recognizes healthcare not merely as a fiscal issue, but as a core national competitiveness factor. Medical innovation will not cease. The problem is that the speed at which this innovation reaches Korean patients remains sluggish. How long can we tolerate the paradox of patients lagging behind in this era of innovation? Now is the time for government, industry, and society to find answers together. A decisive policy action to align the speed of innovation with patients’ needs is urgently required—so that patients no longer have to waste their time waiting.