Reimbursement Momentum Favours SKYRIZI, Tagrisso and Cosentyx
Friday brought major reimbursement shifts in Canada and Korea, recalibrating near-term access in inflammatory bowel disease, EGFR-mutated lung cancer and hidradenitis suppurativa. AbbVie secured a major win in Canada as SKYRIZI moved closer to funded access for ulcerative colitis. In Korea, reimbursement recalibration strengthened Tagrisso’s advantage over Leclaza in EGFR-mutated NSCLC. And Novartis scored a significant dermatology expansion with Cosentyx gaining coverage for severe hidradenitis suppurativa. Together, these decisions highlight how single-day payer actions can shift competitive trajectories across high-burden therapeutic areas.
What You Need To Know
- Canada issues a positive reimbursement recommendation for SKYRIZI in ulcerative colitis and AbbVie finalizes its LOI with pCPA.
- Korea’s reimbursement update broadens access to Tagrisso combinations, widening its real-world lead over Leclaza despite comparable global clinical evidence.
- Novartis gains Korean reimbursement for Cosentyx in severe hidradenitis suppurativa with strict criteria and evidence from the SUNNY program.
Canada’s Drug Agency issued a positive reimbursement recommendation for SKYRIZI in moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, covering patients who failed conventional therapy, biologic treatment or JAK inhibitors. The CDA’s decision drew on evidence from phase 3 INSPIRE and COMMAND and input from 25 clinicians and two patient groups, underscoring broad clinical endorsement. AbbVie also finalized a Letter of Intent with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, effectively securing the pricing pathway needed for public-plan coverage. The move follows SKYRIZI’s earlier recommendation for Crohn’s disease, strengthening IL-23 inhibition’s role across IBD.
Clinical and patient-advocacy voices emphasized the need for additional therapeutic options, noting the substantial variability in disease severity and treatment response across Canada’s 120,000 UC patients. With both clinical evidence and payer alignment now in place, SKYRIZI is positioned for accelerated uptake once formulary listings are finalized.
In Korea, reimbursement realities have overtaken clinical considerations as the factor separating AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso from Yuhan’s Leclaza. Although both therapies have demonstrated globally strong OS data in combination regimens, Korea’s reimbursement expansion now covers Tagrisso plus pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy, dramatically lowering out-of-pocket costs. Leclaza’s partner drug Rybrevant, meanwhile, remains uncovered for the MARIPOSA trial indication, creating a prohibitive cost barrier for the combination.
This reimbursement tilt has already widened the real-world usage gap. IQVIA data show Tagrisso holding 72 percent of Korea’s EGFR-targeted therapy market in Q3, up from 71 percent in Q2, while Leclaza dropped to 28 percent. Clinicians acknowledge both regimens as strong but emphasize that the absence of coverage for Rybrevant limits the practicality of prescribing Leclaza-based combinations.
Novartis also secured a meaningful access expansion in Korea with Cosentyx reimbursed for adult patients with severe hidradenitis suppurativa starting December 1. Reimbursement criteria require at least one year of disease duration, lesions in two or more anatomical regions and failure of at least three months of antibiotics, with ongoing coverage tied to documented clinical improvement at 16 weeks and every 12 weeks thereafter.
Cosentyx brings much-needed mechanistic diversity to a space previously dominated by adalimumab as the only reimbursed biologic. Evidence from the large phase 3 SUNNY program demonstrated HiSCR responses of up to 46 percent at week 16 and sustained long-term benefit through 204 weeks, aligning strongly with recent European guideline updates listing IL-17A inhibitors as first-line biologics for moderate-to-severe disease. With reimbursement now established, Korean dermatologists gain a new treatment option for a population historically underserved by systemic therapies.