Insurance benefits for Faslodex (Ingredient: fulvestrant), AstraZeneca’s breast cancer treatment, has become unclear due to the high price of the drug.

The decision came after the Health Insurance Review & Assessment (HIRA) held its “Service Pharmaceutical Benefits Evaluation Committee” on Thursday to review the appropriateness of the reimbursement for six drugs from four companies.

As a result, the committee classified AstraZeneca’s Faslodex (monotherapy) as a conditional non-deductible, which meant the committee acknowledged the clinical efficacy of the treatment but decided not to reimburse the drug due to its high price.

HIRA added, however, the drug's classification can change if the company accepts a drug price that is suitable for insurance benefits.

The committee also classified Whanin Pharmaceutical's antidepressant Agotine, along with Faslodex, as a conditional non-deductible drug.

On the other hand, the panel approved the reimbursement for Takeda Korea’s Alunbrig, a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, and BL&H’s Erwinase, a treatment for leukemia.

Alunbrig managed to receive approval from the committee three months after it received sales approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

The National Health Insurance Service will conduct price negotiations with Takeda Korea for 60 days after it receives a medicinal price negotiation order from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

soo331@docdocdoc.co.kr

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