Evrysdi (PO) is differentiated due to its low price

The only oral formulation among the three new drugs

Lower the financial burden with low drug prices

Roche's "Evrysdi (Risdiplam)," the second treatment for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in Korea, signaled its launch after about a year of approval.

 

With the differentiation of the only PO drug and low prices, fierce competition in the SMA market was predicted.

 

"Evrysdi is the first oral drug among SMA treatments and is applicable to patients with difficulty in treating SMA, and has confirmed its effectiveness and safety in patients of a wide range of ages and types," Roche Korea stressed at an Evrysdi meeting on the 5th.

 

Evrysdi (Risdiplam) is a prescription medicine used to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in adults and children 2 months of age and older.

 

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic disease in which the SMN1 gene is inherently deficient or mutated, resulting in gradually shrinking muscles.

 

It is known that about one per 10,000 newborns worldwide, and about 30 patients (based on 300,000 newborns) occur every year in Korea.

 

Three new drugs were released in Korea in three years, starting with Biogen's Spinraza in SMA diseases, which had no cure so far.

 

Evrysdi is the second new drug approved in November last year and is the only PO drug.

 

It has been almost a year since the license was granted, but it has not yet been released on the market.

 

As a result, it was delayed than Novartis' Zolgensma, which was belatedly approved.

 

Novartis applied for Zolgensma's benefit in June.

 

Evrysdi began the registration process only in July, eight months after the permit.

 

Roche is expected to officially release Evriesdi after completing the registration process.

 

It is expected to be reimbursed well as Spinraza, which is already more expensive, has been reimbursed.

 

Evriesdi is also known to be likely to follow RSA ( the Expenditure Cap) applied to Spinraza.

 

Lee Seung-hoon, director of Roche Korea, said, "We are currently trying to get reimbursed within the same range as Spinraza." He explained, "I think access to insurance is more important than anything else because receiving rapid treatment for patients has a great impact on the prognosis." Roche explained that it is the only PO drug and that the relatively low cost is Evrydi's strength.

 

Spinraza prices exceed 90 million won, and Zolgensma, which is negotiating benefits, is a "one-shot" treatment that costs more than 2 billion won per time.

 

Evrysdi's final drug price has not been determined, but it is much lower than the prices of Zolgensma and Spinraza.

 

In particular, it is expected to be cheaper for infants and toddlers.

 

Jung-hyun Chang of Roche Korea said, "Unlike other products, Evrysdi's dosage is determined by age and weight, so we expect infants and toddlers under the age of 2 to be treated at a much lower price than adults, greatly reducing the burden of drug costs." Evriesdi can be self-administered at home, which can reduce the socioeconomic burden, he added.

 

Attention is also being paid to which drugs medical staff and patients will choose.

 

Lee Yoon-jung, a professor of pediatrics at Kyungpook National University, emphasized "patient accessibility." Fast diagnosis and treatment are of paramount importance because SMA's symptoms deteriorate rapidly within a short period of time and the slower the treatment, the less effective it is.

 

Professor Lee said, "No matter how active treatment is, the disability often remains no matter how active the treatment is," adding, "As diagnosis and initial administration are very important, we need to consider what drugs can speed up the initial administration as much as possible."