Expectations rise for the reimbursement of Phesgo in Korea

reiterates the socioeconomic effect of the drug

Roche Korea emphasizes its patient-centric value in breast cancer care at KSMO 2024

Shares research on practical effects of switching to Phesgo, such as reduced socioeconomic costs

Professor Matteo Lambertini

On the 30th, Roche Korea announced that the socio-economic benefits of Phesgo (pertuzumab/trastuzumab) for early-stage and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer were highlighted at the 2024 Korean Society of Medical Oncology (KSMO) Congress.

 

The 2024 Korean Society of Medical Oncology (KSMO) Fall Meeting, which was held at COEX, brings together domestic and international experts from approximately 45 countries to share the latest research and innovative approaches for treating cancer.

 

At a symposium held under the theme of Phesgo on the 26th, Kyong-Hwa Park, Professor of Medical Oncology at the Korea University Anam Hospital, chaired the session, with Professor Matteo Lambertini, Chair of the ESMO Young Oncologists Committee, participating as a speaker.

 

Professor Lambertini emphasized the treatment effect of Phesgo through his presentation, ‘Patient Centricity with PHESGO: Achieving a Win-Win Strategy.’ The idea is that Phesgo, as a subcutaneous injection, can improve the efficiency of treatment, allowing patients with early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer to maintain an improved quality of life in the long term.

 

“Phesgo is a treatment that can effectively reduce treatment and monitoring time for patients, in addition to the superior therapeutic efficacy of the trastuzumab-pertuzumab combination, which was confirmed to be non-inferior to existing intravenous agents in Phase III FeDeriCa study, with a comparable safety profile,” said Professor Lambertini.

 

The idea is that the use of Phesgo can reduce treatment time, which will bring socioeconomic benefits for patients, hospitals, and healthcare providers, as well as improve treatment efficiency.

 

In fact, as a maintenance therapy, Phesgo can be administered in as little as 20 minutes, reducing treatment time for dosing and observation by up to 90% compared to a total of 270 minutes required for conventional intravenous infusions.

 

In addition, it was designated as the first biobetter for cancer in Korea in 2021, demonstrating reduced dosing time and improved patient convenience.  Phesgo is a single subcutaneous injection formulation that contains trastuzumab and pertuzumab, which were previously administered intravenously and separately, The combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab is currently the standard of care for a variety of early-stage HER2-positive breast cancers.

 

Professor Lambertini said, “‘In fact, a study of the socioeconomic impact of Phesgo in Italy showed that switching to subcutaneous Phesgo could reduce healthcare professional involvement time per patient by 25% compared to existing intravenous formulations.” Meanwhile, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines recommend the combination of trastuzumab and pertuzumab as a Category 1 recommendation for the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.