How much does it cost out of pocket to use capmatinib after medical insurance reimburses it?

Capmatinib (Capmatinib) is an anti-tumor agent and a mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) tyrosine kinase inhibitor. It is mainly used to treat adults with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors contain MET exon 14 skipping mutations detected by FDA-approved companion diagnostic tests. It is an orphan drug designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this purpose. The current indication is based on objective response rate and duration of response; continued approval for this indication may be dependent on verification and characterization of clinical benefit in confirmatory studies.

Capmatinib, in the form of capmatinib hydrochloride tablets, was approved by the National Medical Products Administration and launched on the market in June 2024. Due to its short time on the market, it is not currently covered by national medical insurance, which means that patients must purchase the drug at their own expense during treatment. At present, there is no unified standard for the selling price of capmatinib in the domestic market.

In terms of medical insurance policy, the country usually undergoes a period of evaluation and review for the inclusion of new drugs. This process involves multiple dimensions such as clinical efficacy, economic evaluation, and patient needs. At the beginning of a drug's launch, its clinical data and market feedback will be an important basis for the evaluation of the medical insurance department. As a new targeted drug, capmatinib still needs to wait patiently for its inclusion in medical insurance.

In the Hong Kong market, the price of each box of the original capmatinib in 200 mg 60 specifications has exceeded RMB 30,000. Overseas, the price of the European version of the original drug of the same specifications has climbed to more than 50,000 yuan, which is obviously expensive, although it may fluctuate due to exchange rates. Fortunately, overseas markets also provide lower-priced generic capmatinib drugs, whose ingredients are roughly the same as the original drug. For example, a 200mg 56-tablet drug produced by a pharmaceutical factory in Laos costs about more than 3,000 yuan, but it may also fluctuate due to exchange rates.