SHANGHAI (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s blockbuster breast cancer drug will be added to China’s national reimbursement scheme list, according to an update from the National Healthcare Security Administration.
The antibody-drug conjugate, commonly known as Enhertu, is among the drugs that will be added to China’s state-run medical insurance from Jan. 1, the list showed.
Enhertu, co-developed with Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo partly for breast cancer patients with HER-2 positive disease, is designed to deliver toxic chemotherapy directly to tumors.
The HER2 protein contributes to the growth and spread of breast cancer. About one in five patients with breast cancer are considered HER2-positive, according to AstraZeneca.
For females in China, breast cancer is the second most frequent cancer after lung cancer, according to 2022 estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
A spokesperson for Astra Zeneca referred Reuters to a National Healthcare Security Administration government announcement. Daiichi Sankyo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Andrew Silver; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)