Doctors ‘Reimb too slow for new drugs in Korea’

KRPIA announces results of survey of 100 domestic medical professionals

Most doctors were found to believe that the speed of reimbursement for new drugs in Korea is too slow.

 

The Korean Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry Association (KRPIA) released the results of a survey of 100 domestic medical professionals on the 14th.

 

In January, the global polling agency Ipsos Research surveyed domestic clinical experts from various medical departments to ask their opinions on access to new drugs.

 

According to survey results, all medical professionals unanimously answered that the period from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approval to health insurance reimbursement listing is “long,” with 74% stating it is “too long.” Regarding the appropriate period from approval to health insurance listing, 81% of medical professionals answered “up to 10 months,” with 41% deeming “within 6 months” as appropriate.

 

As of 2022, it takes an average of 608 days (approximately 20 months) for innovative new drugs to be approved by the MFDS and listed for health insurance reimbursement in Korea.

 

This is twice the appropriate period cited by most medical professionals (10 months) and significantly longer than in major overseas countries such as Germany (281 days), Japan (301 days), and France (311 days) during the same period.

 

Furthermore, experts directly treating patients in the clinical settings anticipate that the swift and widespread introduction of innovative new drugs will provide substantial benefits for patient care.

 

Eighty-three percent of medical professionals expected that “if drugs already in common use overseas are covered by health insurance in Korea, patient treatment outcomes will improve significantly.” A large proportion of medical professionals (85%) responded that “even for drugs already covered by health insurance, if reimbursement standards are eased to enable early or wider use, patient treatment outcomes will improve significantly.” In addition, 95% of medical professionals urged the MOHW to introduce a “fast-track listing procedure or system” for health insurance coverage, similar to the MFDS's Global Innovate Products on Fast Track (GIFT) system, which shortens the drug approval review period for severe or life-threatening diseases by up to 75%.

 

Medical professionals who participated in the survey also expressed concerns about Korea's low access to new drugs.

 

Ninety-four percent of medical professionals pointed out that “Korea's access to new drugs is lower than overseas,” and 97% answered that “the government must set appropriate and reasonable drug prices to prevent the ‘Korea passing’ phenomenon, where multinational pharmaceutical companies give up the launch of innovative new drugs in Korea due to domestic regulations on pharmaceuticals.” Seventy-six percent of medical professionals were concerned that the proportion of new drug expenditures (13.5%) in total domestic drug expenditures is 60% lower than the OECD average (33.9%), and 88% believed that reimbursement and access to new drugs in South Korea need to be improved to the level of the top 10 OECD countries.

 

Medical professionals identified “enhancing access to innovative new drugs” as the top priority among the four key strategies of the government's Second Comprehensive National Health Insurance Plan (2024-2028).

 

As the government pushes policies to reduce drug costs in response to an aging society, 67% of medical professionals expressed the view that “the budget savings should be reinvested into the health insurance fund.” As the survey respondents were clinical experts, they also requested that the opinions of those working on-site be more actively taken into account in the reimbursement decision-making process.

 

Eighty-eight percent of medical professionals responded that “the opinions of medical professionals should be better reflected in the process of registering drugs for health insurance coverage,” and 80% said that “medical professionals should also be involved in the process of selecting patient population eligible for health insurance coverage.” A KRPIA official stated, “Medical professionals who care for patients on the front lines are deeply concerned about the difficulties patients face in receiving treatment due to delays in the introduction of innovative new drugs.

 

They hope that new drugs will be listed for health insurance reimbursement more swiftly and with a broader scope.

 

We anticipate that the results of this survey will contribute to the government’s fostering of a patient-centered treatment environment and policy design.”