Korea’s new drug reimb rate is below OECD average

KRPIA announces ‘Global Access to New Medicines Report’ results

A survey found that Korea’s new drug reimbursement rate does not amount to the OECD average.

 

The Korean Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry Association (KRPIA, Chairman: Dong-Wook Oh) recently announced Korea’s new drug release status based on its ‘Global Access to New Medicines Report’ According to the report, it takes longer than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country average for new drugs to be introduced to Korea after its global launch, and Korea’s release rate and reimbursement rate were also below the OECD country average.

 

The report was based on the ‘Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’ report that was published in April.

 

PhRMA’s report subdivided 72 countries including Korea by G20, OECD, and region, and investigated the current status of new drug launches and health insurance coverage in each country.

 

The report was prepared based on an investigation of a total of 460 new drugs that have received marketing authorization in the United States, Europe, and Japan over the past 10 years from 2012 to 2021.

 

When taking a closer look, the report showed that the ratio of new drugs introduced to Korea within 1 year after the initial global launch was found to be less than half of the OECD average.

 

While the average new drug introduction rate (non-reimbursement release rate) in OECD countries is 18%, Korea's level was only 5%, about a quarter of the OECD average.

 

The countries with the highest new drug introduction rates were the United States (78%), Germany (44%), then the United Kingdom (38%).

 

Also, Japan’s new drug introduction rate was nearly twice that of Korea, at 32%.

 

By disease, it took about 27 to 30 months for anticancer drugs and new rare disease drugs to be released in Korea without reimbursement after their global launch.

 

Compared to the average of 12 to 15 months it took in other advanced countries such as the UK and Germany and 18 to 21 months in Japan, it takes twice as long for new drugs to be launched in Korea.

 

Moreover, it took a total of 46 months from the initial global launch of a new drug to reimbursement in Korea.

 

The average time taken in other OECD countries was similar at 45 months, but compared to Japan (17 months) and France (34 months), it took from 10 months to more than twice longer for drugs to be reimbursed in Korea.

 

Meanwhile, the share of new drugs covered by health insurance in Korea was 22%, which was below the OECD average (29%).

 

This is only half that of Japan (48%) and the UK (48%).

 

KRPIA said, “The report holds significance for allowing us to identify the rate and period of new drugs introduced and reimbursed in Korea after their global launch.

 

Improvements should be made to Korea’s system and environment in advance to enable prompt reimbursement of global new drugs for patients in Korea.