Can serputinib/serpatinib be reimbursed by medical insurance?

Selpercatinib, as an innovativeRET-targeted drug, has been approved for marketing in China for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) , thyroid cancer and other diseases, and has been approved in many countries around the world. However, whether medical insurance can cover it is always one of the issues that patients are most concerned about. As far as the current situation is concerned, although Seputinib is already on the market in China, it has not yet been included in the national medical insurance directory, so patients need to purchase it at their own expense. According to market pricing information, a box of 80mg*56 capsules of Seputinib is expected to cost more than RMB 10,000, which will impose a heavy financial burden on patients taking the drug for a long time.

Whether a drug can be included in medical insurance usually depends on its clinical value, the size of the patient population, its comparative advantages over existing treatments, and the outcome of negotiations with the medical insurance department. In the past, many targeted drugs were priced on the high side when they first entered the Chinese market. However, after medical insurance negotiations, the prices dropped significantly and they gradually became popular. For exampleEGFR and ALK targeted drugs have gone through similar processes. Therefore, it is generally expected in the industry that with the accumulation of real-world data and the expansion of the scope of drug use, seputinib is expected to enter the reimbursement list through medical insurance negotiations in the future.

It is worth noting that before medical insurance covers it, some patients may receive certain cost reductions through insurance, charity assistance programs, or patient assistance programs. When some multinational pharmaceutical companies introduce innovative drugs, they will also set up relevant assistance channels to reduce the financial pressure on patients.

Judging from international experience, some commercial insurances in the United States and other countries can partially reimburse seputinib, while in some European countries, the progress of incorporating the drug into the public medical system is related to the speed of negotiation. In recent years, China has accelerated the inclusion of innovative drugs in medical insurance, and has become more active in negotiations on precision targeted drugs and anti-tumor drugs. Therefore, there is a high possibility that seputinib will enter medical insurance in the future.

Reference:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selpercatinib