Astellas notified distributors, Betmiga cannot be returned

Suspension of drug prices in June is likely. It's going to last until the Supreme Court ruling

It takes two years to sentence Elliquis. Chaos is inevitable for a long time

Betmiga

Confusion in pharmacies is expected to continue for a while over the lowering of the drug Betmiga (Mirabegron), an irritable bladder treatment.

 

The pharmaceutical industry and the outpatient pharmacies predict that it will take at least a year for the drug price to be finalized.

 

According to the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacies on the 28th, Astellas Pharma Korea Betmiga PR will be lowered from the 1st of next month.

 

This is because Chong Kun Dang and Hanmi Pharmaceutical succeeded in overcoming patents and released generic.

 

The MOHW has announced that it will lower the upper limit of the original Betmiga from June 1 following the release of generic drugs.

 

However, it is highly likely that Betmiga's drug prices will not be reduced.

 

Astellas disobeyed the second trial's ruling, and the case went to the Supreme Court.

 

Astellas lost the second trial of Betmiga's use-and-crystal patent dispute with 11 companies, including Hanmi, on January 22 this year.

 

Astellas filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on March 3.

 

At the same time, it is said that it filed an injunction with the administrative court to suspend the execution of the drug price notice.

 

Since the related case has not yet been finalized, it is a request to postpone administrative disposition until the Supreme Court ruling is made.

 

This is why Astellas notified distributors of "nonreturnable" and "non-settle balance" by saying, "There is no reduction in drug prices in June." In fact, the same thing happened earlier in the patent dispute surrounding Eliquis.

 

BMS, the original company, maintained an insurance upper limit of ₩1,185 per party by dragging the case to the second trial and applying for an execution suspension of drug prices at the same time, even though generic was released after the first trial was lost.

 

When the second trial was lost, the MOHW warned of a drug price cut, but the BMS applied for an execution suspension of the drug price cut as it dragged the case back to the third trial and eventually the insurance upper limit price was maintained.

 

The case was overturned in the third trial and eventually BMS succeeded in delaying the drug reduction until September 2024.

 

It took about two years for the final sentence (April 8, 2021) to be made after the third trial was held in the Eliquis case (May 3, 2019).

 

Considering this, the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacies predict that it will take at least a year to reach a final conclusion on the reduction of Betmiga prices.

 

Unlike the first and second trials, the Supreme Court does not disclose the date of the sentence to the public.

 

This explains that the company's non-returnable measures and the pharmacy's confusion over them will continue for more than a year.

 

However, there is a possibility that the conclusion may be unusually early.

 

The Supreme Court will decide within four months whether to deal with the case in earnest from the second trial.

 

This is called the discontinuity of trials period, and if the Supreme Court judges that the hearing is unnecessary, the second trial will be finalized before October.

 

"Astellas submitted a statement of grounds of the final civil application," a pharmaceutical industry source said.

 

"We expect a new claim to be made in the Supreme Court, which is different from the second trial," he said.

 

"We believe that the possibility of disccontinuity of trials is low at the moment." For Bayer's new oral anticoagulant Xarelto (Rivaroxaban), the situation is different from that of Betmiga.

 

Bayer is also said to have applied for suspension of execution in the government's disposition to lower drug prices because the lawsuit has not been completed.

 

However, Bayer was defeated in the Supreme Court in December last year.

 

The Supreme Court dismissed Bayer's appeal and sent it back to the Patent Court.

 

Xarelto's prices are likely to remain until the Patent Court has reached the conclusion of the remand trial.

 

In general, the period of judgment is shorter than that of the Supreme Court for destruction and repatriation.

 

This means that the chaos in the pharmacy disappears more than in the case of Betmiga.