Feb. 16th, 2022

Pharmaceutical

Biogen's Rare Disease Drug Gets Access to More Patients in China Due to NRDL

In December 2021, Biogen cut the price of Spinraza (Nusinersen Sodium Injection) from 700,000 yuan per dose to 33,000 yuan per dose. The move was for getting a place in China's National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL). Thanks to the price cut, nearly 30 patients across China got administered with Spinraza on Jan. 1, the first day of the new NRDL took effect.

Spinraza Entered the Chinese SMA Treatment Market Via Priority Review

SMA, a rare disease characterized by muscle atrophy or weakness, currently affects 30,000-50,000 patients in China. The disease's incidence is 1/10,000-1/6,000 among infants. According to estimation, about 1,023 to 1,705 among the average 10,232,667 newborn babies4 in China during the past three years suffer from SMA. Biogen became the first SMA therapy approved by China National Medical Administration on Feb. 25, 2019, about two years after the approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 23, 2016. Given Spinraza's significance in treating SMA patients, NMPA granted the priority review designation to the drug and completed the review within only 173 days. Thus, Spinraza established its advantage by becoming the first drug in China's SMA treatment market. However, the drug was too expensive for patients from average families until it got included in the NRDL.

Being listed in NRDL: Pathway to More Patients

The inclusion into the NRDL enhances Spinraza's market position with a lowered price. Each injection costs less than 33,000 yuan thanks to social healthcare insurance. Based on different reimbursement rates in different provinces, each Spinraza injection will cost around 10,000-17,000 yuan. The initial course of treatment needs four doses of Spinraza within 63 days. After that, a maintenance dose should be administered every four months. So the first year's medical expense is estimated to be about 100,000 yuan, and each following year around 50,000 yuan. Besides, the NRDL is connected with the drug procurement by public hospitals. After being included into the NRDL, Spinraza has been listed on 34 provincial drug procurement platforms by Jan. 4, so the drug expects a higher profile across the Chinese market.

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