Now Takeda Offers Rebate if Lung Cancer Drug Fails to Work

Takeda Pharmaceuticals is now the latest pharmaceutical company to offer a value-based agreement on one of its new targeted therapies.

The rebate offer is for brigatinib (Alunbrig) which is approved for the treatment of adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase positive (ALK+) metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as detected by an FDA-approved test.

The move follows a rebate offer from Pfizer for crizotinib (Xalkori), which is also approved for ALK+ (as well as ROS1+) NSCLC, and also for ALK+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma

For its offer. Takeda has teamed up with Point32Health, the second-largest health plan in New England with about 2.3 million members. The new agreement will make brigatinib widely available to patients who may benefit from its use, say the companies.

If a patient is unable to remain on brigatinib for 3 months or longer because of effectiveness or tolerability, Takeda will refund a yet unspecified amount of money to Point32Health. Brigatinib's list price is $17,000 for a month's treatment.

"Given the importance of facilitating cutting-edge oncology treatment and also the reality that not all patients show a positive response, reimbursement for oncology treatments is an area that is prime for innovative financing approaches," said Michael Sherman, MD, chief medical officer and executive vice president, Point32Health, in a statement. "Collaborating with Takeda to share risk makes this agreement a crucial milestone in bringing cost-effectiveness to cancer care."

The Pfizer program for crizotinib is somewhat different. For one thing, Pfizer's refund is offered to any patient who qualifies and not just those who are covered by a specific plan. Second, Takeda is thus far only refunding money to the insurer, whereas Pfizer will also reimburse patients for out-of-pocket expenses.

There is also a similar approach that has been offered by Novartis for tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), the CAR T-cell therapy that launched with a daunting price tag of $475,000. After receiving backlash over the cost, Novartis announced that if the drug does not work after the first month, patients pay nothing.

In addition, Italy has been using this system for several years. Pharmaceutical companies must refund money if the drug fails to work. In 2015, the state-run healthcare system collected €200 million ($220 million) in refunds.

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Cite this: Now Takeda Offers Rebate if Lung Cancer Drug Fails to Work - Medscape - Oct 27, 2021.

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