How much does a course of Enactuzumab treatment cost?

Elranatamab, as a new bispecific antibody drug that has attracted much attention in the field of hematological tumors in recent years, has shown significant efficacy in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), especially after resistance to traditional treatments, providing a new targeted immunotherapy regimen. However, because it is an innovative biologic and its production process is complex, it is relatively expensive. According to the current public information, enantuzumab has been approved for marketing in mainland China, but it has not yet been included in the national medical insurance directory. Therefore, patients basically need to bear the cost of treatment at their own expense when using it. Common specifications on the market are 44mg (1.1ml) and 76mg (1.9ml). The price per box is about RMB 40,000. Since the drug is started with an ascending dose and then enters the maintenance phase with higher frequency and dosage, the overall cost of the treatment is not low.

Take a standard course of treatment as an example. The initial phase includessubcutaneous injections of 12 mg, 32 mg and 76 mg, followed by 76 mg once a week for 24 weeks. If the treatment is effective, it will enter the maintenance phase once every two weeks. If the patient uses the drug completely according to the plan from the beginning to the sixth month, a rough estimate of the total dosage is at least close to 1800 mg or even higher. Calculated based on the current unit price, the total cost of a complete course of treatment may exceed RMB 500,000. For patients with a heavy financial burden, the cost of such treatment is undoubtedly a huge obstacle. In contrast, in overseas markets, such as the U.S. market, the original research version of Enactuzumab is priced at more than US$8,000 per dose, and the annual treatment cost can easily exceed US$100,000.

Since ernetuzumab is still in the market stage, its real-world efficacy and long-term economic data are not yet sufficient, which may be an important reason for its failure to be included in the medical insurance catalog in time. However, with the accumulation of clinical usage data, if it gets good usage feedback in the country in the future, it is expected to be included in the subsequent medical insurance negotiations to ease the burden on patients.

Reference materials:https://www.drugs.com/mtm/elranatamab.html