Most expensive drug' Zolgensma is included in Japan's medical insurance

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan has decided to list the gene therapy drug "Zolgensma" that eliminates difficult diseases as spinal muscular dystrophy as the target of public medical insurance. Zolgensma is called "the most expensive unit price in pharmaceutical history".

According to Kyodo News, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan decided on 13th to list the gene therapy drug "Zolgensma" for difficult spinal muscular dystrophy as the target of public medical insurance. The price of the drug is 16.707 billion yen (about 11.02 million yuan) . The drug target is patients under 2 years old.

Although it is used only once to complete the treatment, it is the highest price in Japan for medical insurance. It can only be applied on the 20th. The Ministry of Labor and Welfare was approved by the Central Social Insurance Medical Association (the consulting agency of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare).

Together, the title is good news for patients and their families waiting for treatment. Instead, the shift to advances in medical technology, the successive listing of high-priced drugs, and the spread of insurance finances have also spread. The highest price of the server is the medical insurance that was applied in May last year, and it is expected to effectively treat some leukemia and malignant lymphoma drug "Kymriah", which is 33.49 million yen.

Zolgensma is produced and sold by pharmaceutical giant Novartis. It costs more than 200 million yen in the United States. As the "world's most expensive drug", drug prices in Japan have also received attention.

Zolgensma was approved by the FDA in May 2019. Because it is a potential one-time cure, Zolgensma is priced at $ 2.1 million, which is hailed as the most expensive drug in pharmaceutical history. In 2016, the first SMA-approved treatment for SMA, Bojian Spinraza, cost $ 750,000 in the first year, and then $ 375,000 per year. Zolgensma's pricing is half of Spinraza's 10-year treatment costs.

The pre-infant morbidity rate is 1-2 per 100,000 people. Allegedly, if the onset occurs soon after birth, many patients die before the age of one and a half if they do not use a ventilator. Zolgensma introduces normal genes through intravenous injection to restore motor function. Novartis expects 25 people to use it each year, including 4.2 billion yen.

The Kyodo News Agency said that the proportion of public insurance medical expenses payable by patients under the age of 2 was 20%. Since the central and local governments have compensation systems, there is practically no self-payment.