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- 2026-07-22 06:47:10
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- Government likely to list Zejula in December
- by Byun Kyung A Oct 31, 2019 09:36am
- Sources predict Zejula, an ovarian cancer treatment, would get listed for healthcare reimbursement in coming December. According to an industry insider on Oct. 16, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Korea is waiting for Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee’s (HIPDC) deliberation, after recently reaching an agreement with National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) on drug pricing of Zejula (niraparib), a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor. The niraparib treatment has been passed by Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) only after four months it was approved in last July. Zejula can be prescribed as a maintenance treatment for adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer, including fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer, who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. However, the National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement would be first available for BRCA mutation patients only. Zejula was approved based on results of Phase 3 trials (ENGOT-OV16/NOVA). Progression-free survival (PFS) of patients taking Zejula, with or without BRCA mutation, showed a meaningful extension than the the control group. Moreover, the treatment proved its efficacy through PRIMA trial testing as a first-line treatment for ovarian cancer, regardless of BRCA mutation. In Korea, AstraZeneca’s Lynparza was listed for NHI reimbursement as a first PARP inhibitor. Lynparza was exempted from pharmacoeconomic analysis and was listed as reimbursed drug with expenditure cap risk sharing agreement (RSA) in October, 2017. However, the reimbursement benefit was suspended for some patients from last January as it was initially listed as post-chemotherapy maintenance therapy up to 15 months. From then on, AstraZeneca underwent reimbursement expansion talks with Korean government and lifted limitation on the fixed period of 15-month since last May.
