Will Tevimbra be reimbursed promptly in Korea?

Company announces plan to set a reasonable price for Tevimbra’s prompt reimbursement

Whether a new immuno-oncology drug option will arise in oesophageal cancer gains attention

BeiGene has been providing the drug free of charge to patients through EAP

Whether an immuno-oncology treatment option will arise in the oesophageal cancer space is garnering attention.

 

BeiGene Korea's immuno-oncology drug Tevimbra (tislelizumab) passed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s Cancer Disease Review Committee in August during its second attempt.

 

Tevimbra is a PD-1 inhibiting immuno-oncology drug that has demonstrated clinical utility in second-line oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and was approved in Korea in November last year.

 

Currently, there are seven immuno-oncology drugs licensed and marketed in Korea, including ▲Keytruda, ▲Opdivo, ▲Tecentriq, ▲Imfinai, ▲Bavencio, ▲Jemperli, and ▲Tevimbra, which owns a total of 64 indications.

 

However, only 21 indications (around 33%) are currently reimbursed.

 

Also, none of these drugs are yet reimbursed for esophageal cancer.

 

Currently, only platinum-based chemotherapy is reimbursed in Korea as both first-line and second-line treatment options for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

 

Reimbursement rates for immuno-oncology drugs by indication, including oesophageal cancer, are low due to high drug costs and finances.

 

After being reimbursed for some cancers, such as lung cancer, overall claims for immuno-oncology drugs and their share of health insurance expenditures have increased significantly, leading to an increased burden on national health insurance finances.

 

As of 2023, the total claims for anticancer drugs was around KRW 2.4 trillion, with immuno-oncology drugs accounting for about KRW 500 billion, or 20% of the total claims for anticancer drugs.

 

This is why BeiGene plan to supply Tevimbra at a relatively low price is raising expectations.

 

BeiGene’s corporate philosophy of providing ‘innovative new medicines at reasonable prices’ to eliminate underserved patients, has already been demonstrated through the reimbursement process it had shown with its blood cancer drug ‘Brukinsa (zanubrutinib).’ The company has also made Tevimbra available at no cost to select patients with oesophageal cancer through its Expanded Access Program (EAP).

 

It remains to be seen if Tevimbra will make it onto the reimbursement list after passing discussions with the Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation Subcommittee, Risk Sharing Subcommittee, and Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee.

 

In the global Phase III RATIONALE-302 study, Tevimbra prolonged median overall survival (OS) by 2.3 months (8.6 months vs.

 

6.3 months) compared to chemotherapy, resulting in a statistically significant 30% reduction in the risk of death.

 

Compared to chemotherapy, Tevimbra resulted in more than twice as many patients responding to treatment (20% vs.

 

10%), and showed an improvement in the median duration of response of approximately 3 months, from 4.0 months to 7.1 months, with sustained responses and a reduction in tumor size, which is directly related to quality of life for esophageal cancer patients.

 

As a result, the U.S.

 

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) revised its guidelines to recommend Tevimbra as a Category 1 preferred option for second-line treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.