Bayer Korea said Tuesday that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has decided to expand insurance benefit Visanne, its endometriosis treatment.

According to the new reimbursement plan, patients that confirm their endometriosis in their ovaries, rectum or bladder through ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), will receive insurance benefits when administered with Visanne.

The company expects such benefits will increase the range of benefits as the previous insurance benefit only helped endometriosis patients, who confirmed their symptoms through conventional inspection methods such as laparoscopy.

Endometriosis occurs when the tissue that usually lines the inside of a woman's uterus grows on the outside of the patient’s uterus. According to the company, about 10 percent of fertile women and 20 to 30 percent of infertile women are known to have endometriosis.

The main symptoms are chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, fatigue, and infertility. Especially 40 to 82 percent of women who have the symptoms suffer from chronic pelvic pain.

The illness is also chronic and progressive and may persist even after surgical removal of the lesion while having a high recurrence rate, which highlights the need for preoperative and postoperative management.

On average, approximately 40 to 75 percent of patients experience a recurrence within five to six years after the first operation, of which 27 percent undergo additional operations throughout their lifetime. Recurrent operations may also affect the patient's pregnancy.

“Visanne is an oral hormone containing dienogest, a progestin effective in the treatment of endometriosis,” said Jin Jung-ki, head of the women health department at Bayer Korea. “As extensive research has shown that significant pain reduction and improved quality of life in patients with endometriosis, the company expects that the expanded reimbursement can help more endometriosis patients will be able to live a healthy and satisfying life.”

The treatment has demonstrated significant pain relief and improved quality of life through ENVISIOeN, a real-world study of endometriosis patients, in six Asian countries -- Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the mid-term analysis, there was 78.4 percent improvement in the pain criteria compared to the baseline value after six months of taking Visanne.

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