The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is negotiating with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices in the hope of extending National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage for breast, lung and colorectal cancer treatments to include immuno-oncology, NHI Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.
NHI payouts for new drugs stood at NT$6 billion (US$181.58 million) last year, double the amount in 2023, Shih said, adding that with the inclusion of about NT$5 billion for cancer treatments, the NHI expects to pay about NT$10 billion this year.
About 880,000 people are treated for cancer in Taiwan each year, with breast cancer patients being the largest group at about 180,000, he said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
The development of new drugs and precision medicines would help find the best treatments, he said.
The FDA wants to provide payments for all of the treatments it approves for breast, lung and colorectal cancers, but it is in talks with pharmaceutical companies due to the significant funding such an endeavor requires, he said.
The NHI’s payouts for cancer are expected to match global rates this year, but the agency in the second half of this year would discuss payment schemes based on treatment quality — with a focus on breast cancer treatments — to ensure that the money is spent where it is needed, Shih added.
Taiwan Breast Cancer Society president Chen Chou-tung (陳守棟) said that antibody-drug conjugates last month became eligible for NHI payouts, so it is up to doctors to prescribe the treatment, which would reduce cancer-induced mortality rates.
Article 7 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) defines “new drugs” as drugs with new compositions, therapeutic compounds or methods of administration that have been verified and recognized by health authorities.
The government’s Healthy Taiwan policy aims to reduce national cancer-induced mortality rates by one-third.
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