Roche’s Polivy can be prescribed at general hospitals

Polivy passed DC of big 5 such as SNUH and SMC

The new lymphoma drug Polivy can be prescribed at general hospitals.

 

According to related industries, ADC that combine with conventional BR therapy (Bendamustine/ Rituximab) treatments for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that have poor non-responsive prognosis of Roche.

 

However, Polivy is still a non-reimbursed drug.

 

Roche applied insurance benefit earlier this year, but failed to pass HIRA's Cancer Drugs Benefit Appraisal Committee in April.

 

Roche is attempting to register Polivy in the future.

 

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, which accounts for the highest percentage of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is a type of aggressive lymphoma that requires immediate treatment due to its fast progression.

 

More than half of patients have good treatment response rates to reach related levels, but 30 to 40% of patients do not respond to the standard therapy, R-CHOP, or experience recurrence after the first treatment.

 

Most patients experience recurrence within two years, and the disease is fatal enough to last only six months.

 

Recurrent and nonresponsive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has been an area that lacks effective treatment options.

 

Polivy is the first ADC drug to target CD79b, which binds to CD79b expressed in B cells and has the mechanism of inducing apoptosis.

 

Polivy was validated by phase 1b/2 clinical trials in 80 patients with recurrent or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients who could not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplants and had more than one treatment experience.

 

It was designated as a rare drug in Korea in October last year.

 

Studies have shown that the Polivy co-therapy group extends CR, Complete Response and OS and Overall Surviva compared to the BR therapy group.

 

Ko Young-il, a professor of hematology at Seoul National University Hospital, said, "Polivy has confirmed its usefulness through clinical use and is a treatment option recommended by international guidelines, which is significant in that it has proposed a new alternative to re-use or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treatment.