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First oHCM drug Camzyos applies for reimb in Korea
by Eo, Yun-Ho Jan 22, 2024 05:49am
The first-ever obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) treatment, ‘Camzyos,’ is being reviewed for reimbursement in Korea. According to industry sources, BMS Korea has recently applied for the reimbursement listing of its new obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) drug Camzyos (mavacamten). Therefore, whether the drug will be deliberated by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service within the first quarter of this year remains to be seen. Camzyos is the first and only cardiac myosin inhibitor that specifically targets excess cross-bridge formation of myosin and actin proteins, the main cause of oHCM. Camzyos can improve left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction by separating myosin from actin and relaxing the over-contracted heart muscle. In the Phase III EXPLORER-HCM trial, which served as the basis for Camzyos’s approval, Camzyos achieved and improved the primary composite endpoint of the proportion of patients with decreased symptom burden (by NYHA class) and functional capacity (peak oxygen consumption, pVO2) by more than two times compared with placebo. In particular, 20% of the patients who received treatment with Camzyos achieved both primary endpoints, pVO2 improvement, and the NYHA class requirement. Also, the dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction was reduced by over 4 times with the use of Camzyos. 7 out of 10 patients treated with Camzyos improved to the extent that they would not consider surgery, and showed consistent benefits over 30 weeks. oHCM is a rare disease that occurs when the left ventricular muscle of the heart becomes abnormally thick, obstructing blood flow through the aorta to the rest of the body. Its main symptoms are shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, fainting, etc., which appear in various ways and can increase the risk of various cardiovascular complications such as heart failure and atrial fibrillation There had remained a high unmet need for the treatment oHCM as its treatment focused more on symptom relief than fundamental cure. Treatment options such as beta-blockers and non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers can reduce the heart rate and myocardial contractility, but it is difficult to expect long-term improvement with these existing drug treatment options alone. Meanwhile, the European Society of Cardiology revised its HCM guidelines for the first time in nine years with the introduction of Camzyos and recommended it as a second-line treatment. Among all treatment options for oHCM, Camzyos received the highest level of evidence, level of evidence A. Previously, no other recommended drug option had a higher level of evidence than B.