Know the drug information early: Can cabozantinib be included in medical insurance in 2024?

Cabozantinib (Cabozantinib) is a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with activity against multiple targets, including MET, RET, AXL, VEGFR2, FLT3 and c-KIT. The activity of cabozantinib in various tumor models can be detected in several preclinical studies. Notably, cabozantinib reduced metastatic potential and tumor aggressiveness compared with placebo or drugs that target VEGFR and are inactive on MET.

Cabotinib is clinically approved for the treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In gain-of-function mutations in medullary thyroid cancer, RET mutations are central to tumorigenesis. In the pivotal METEOR trial, cabozantinib showed activity in patients with RCC who progressed after first-line VEGFR-TKI therapy. Of particular interest is the effect on patients with bone metastases, who have a worse prognosis. In these patients, the beneficial effect of cabozantinib was more pronounced than that of everolimus. Side effects of concern include diarrhea, high blood pressure, fatigue, and hand-foot syndrome.

The original drug Cabozantinib is not marketed in the country and therefore cannot be included in medical insurance. Once cabozantinib can be launched in the country, the possibility of entering the medical insurance will increase. The original cabozantinib drug marketed overseas includes Japanese, European and Turkish versions. The price of tablets may be more than 30,000 yuan, and the price of capsule preparations may be more than 40,000 yuan (prices may fluctuate due to exchange rates). There are also generic drugs produced in other countries overseas, and their pharmaceutical ingredients are basically the same as those of the original drugs. For example, the price of pharmaceuticals produced by Bangladeshi pharmaceutical factories may be more than 2,000 yuan (the price may fluctuate due to the exchange rate), which is relatively cheap.