The Spanish Health will finance two new drugs to treat metastatic breast cancer, as announced by the Ministry of Health after reaching an agreement with the Interministerial Commission on Drug Prices (CIPM). These are Enhertu® and Trodelvy®, two treatments that will benefit some 2,000 patients a year.
However, both drugs start from a different active ingredient and will be used in different cases. Enhertu® is made with trastuzumab deruxtecan and will be used in patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received one or more prior HER2-targeted regimens.
Trodelvy®, for its part, has sacituzumab govitecan as its active ingredient, and is indicated to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who have received two or more prior systemic treatments, including at least one of them for advanced disease.
Both drugs could be available in December
As explained by the Ministry of Health, since the authorization of both drugs was produced, they had been accessible through the programs for access to medicines in special situations, a management that is carried out by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS). ).
This funding is intended to reduce mortality from this type of breast cancer, which is already the most common tumor in women and the main cause of death from cancer in this gender
Now, with the decision to finance these drugs for metastatic breast cancer by the Spanish Social Security System, they will begin to be included in the pharmaceutical service as soon as the agreement is formalized and it is included in the nomenclature, something which could happen in early December.
These inclusions are intended to help reduce mortality rates from this disease, which has already become the most frequent tumor in women and the main cause of death from cancer in this gender. In addition, according to data from the Ministry of Health, in 2022 there will be 34,000 new cases and more than 6,600 deaths as a result, mainly, of the progression of the disease.
However, one of these approved drugs, Trodelvy, was rejected in the last price update due to its high cost, something that led to criticism of the government, which argued that “it is not only an incremental cost compared to existing alternatives in the same very high line of treatment but also against immuno-oncological treatments (Keytruda and Tecentriq), in this case the treatment cost per patient being three times higher with sacituzumab govitecan”. Months later, the decision to include it has finally been made, as requested from various areas.
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