Reimbursed Imfinzi available for stage 3 lung cancer soon

After DREC green lit in last November, pricing has been negotiated recently

Signs refund type RSA, has unique indication than other immunotherapies

The first immunotherapy option for patients with stage 3 lung cancer, Imfinzi, would soon receive healthcare reimbursement.

 

According to pharmaceutical industry, AstraZeneca and National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) have reached an agreement on the pricing of PD-11 inhibitor Imfinzi injection (duvalumab).

 

The reimbursed indication is to treat patients, previously treated by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with locally advanced stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer.

 

The treatment was cleared for marketing in Korea from December 2018, and Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’ (HIRA) Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (DREC) green lit it from last November.

 

Taking the refund type risk sharing agreement (RSA), the treatment’s reimbursement decision would be deliberated and finalized by Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPDC) soon.

 

While three other immunotherapies, including PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda (pebrolizumab) and Opdivo (nivolumab) and PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab), have been approved before focusing on stage 4 lung cancer treatment, Imfinzi has an exclusive market with its unique indication.

 

Imfinzi’s approval was based on Phase 3, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter PACIFIC trial, conducted with 713 patients in 235 institutes in 26 countries.

 

The trial found the Imfinzi patient group has prolonged median progression-free survival (mPFS) to 16.8 months, about 11.2 months longer than the placebo group.

 

Regardless of PD-L1 expression, Imfinzi also reduced risk of death by 32 percent and improved overall survival (OS) significantly.

 

In 2019, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) presented three-year OS rate analyzed from PACIFIC trial.

 

43.5 percent higher than the placebo group, Imfinzi group demonstrated significantly higher OS rate of 57.0 percent.

 

Imfinzi is a human monoclonal antibody that binds to PD-L1 and blocks the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 and CD80, countering the tumor’s immune-evading tactics and releasing the inhibition of immune response.

 

Based on a patient’s body weight, 10 mg/ kg dose of Imfinzi is administered by intravenous infusion over 60 minutes for every two weeks.

 

It can be used until the disease is progressed or unacceptable level of toxicity is developed.