South Korea expands health insurance for advanced cancer treatments

South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced the expansion of national health insurance coverage for several advanced cancer treatments, effective October 1. The decision aims to improve treatment accessibility for patients with rare or hard-to-treat cancers.

Key additions include the oral medication Retevmo for rare RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer and medullary thyroid cancer. For patients with unresectable advanced or metastatic gastric cancer, the drug Vyloy will now be covered. Additionally, a combination therapy of Padcev and Keytruda will be covered as a first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Clinical data highlighted for the Padcev and Keytruda combination shows a significant improvement in survival rates compared to standard chemotherapy, with a median overall survival of 31.5 months versus 16.1 months. This expansion also increases the total number of indications covered by Keytruda in South Korea to 19 across 13 different cancer types.