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Why Galvusmet is priced same as salt-modified and generics
by Lee, Tak-Sun Apr 13, 2022 06:03am
Prices of DPP-4 inhibitor Galvus (vildagliptin) and Galvusmet (vildagliptin+metformin) latecomers show that the original Galvus’s price is still set high, but the price of the original Galvusmet (50/500mg) is set at the same level as its salt-modified and generic versions. Also, Galvus’s price had fallen 30% with premium pricing after the introduction of generics, but Galvusmet’s price fell only 25.3%. Why the difference? This is due to the different standards in pricing between single-agent and combination drugs. Galvusmet’s pricing did not follow the general formula. First, combination drugs are not applied the premium pricing formulas. For original single agent drugs, the drugs’ price falls 30% in the first year due to premium pricing, then to 53.55%, same as generics after 1 year. Reimbursement listing status of vildagliptin(50mg)/metformin(500mg) However, original combination drugs are not provided a premium and therefore are discounted and set at 53.55% like its generics at the time of entry. If so, why did Galvusmet’s price drop only 25.3%? It was because its price had been set at a lower level during its initial listing. This is why the drug’s price was set at ₩310, which is a sum of ₩240, the ceiling price of Galvus before premiums, and ₩70, the ceiling price of metformin 500mg. The price of KB Pharma’s salt-modified drug Vildamet tab 50/500mg was also set at ₩310 under the same calculations. Also, United Pharma Korea’s generic version of Galvusmet, ‘Healusmet tab’ was listed at ₩310 like the adjusted price of Galvusmet by satisfying both the direct bioequivalence testing and Regulation on Registration of Drug Substances (DMF) requirements. This is why the original, salt-modified drug and generics were set at the same price upon market entry. On the other hand, the price of generics from companies that were not able to satisfy the direct bioequivalence testing requirements – those from Samjin, Ahn-gook, Ahn-gook New Pharm, and Shinpoong- were set at ₩264. Meanwhile, Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s ‘Vildaglmet 50/500mg,’ which was allowed the same price as KB Pharma’s at ₩310, was voluntarily listed at a lower price of ₩300. Yoon-Hee Choi, Team Head of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s Drug Pricing Department, said, “No premium is provided for combination drugs, therefore, the price of original combination drugs may be set at the same level as its generics upon entry of generics. However, as Galvusmet’s price had been set at a lower price in its initial listing, the price was not discounted 53.55%, but under a different standard.”