Estimated total cost of lifelong treatment with margetuximab

Margetuximab (margetuximab-cmkb), as a targeted treatment drug for HER2-positive breast cancer , has a relatively complex cost structure, which needs to be carefully estimated especially in patients who require long-term or even lifelong medication. The recommended dosing regimen of this drug is an intravenous infusion of 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks (21 days) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurs. Since the medication cycle is clear and the dosage is based on body weight, a preliminary cost estimate can be made based on the patient's weight.

Take a patient weighing 60 kg as an example. Each treatment requires 900 mg of medication. In the international market, the common packaging specification of margituximab is 250mg/10ml*1 bottle/box. Based on this calculation, a single treatment requires about 4 bottles of medicine. According to overseas drug quotations, the price of a single bottle of margituximab is about 30,000 yuan, and 4 bottles is 120,000 yuan. If there are multiple cycles of treatment per year, the total annual treatment cost is approximately several million yuan. Taking into account the import channels, medical insurance coverage and drug discount policies of different countries or regions, the price may fluctuate.

It should be noted that although the drug has been approved by the FDA in 2020 and has original research versions circulating in some countries such as Japan and Germany, it has not yet been fully marketed or included in medical insurance in China, which has further increased the cost for patients to obtain drugs through self-imported import channels. In addition, long-term treatment not only includes the cost of the drug itself, but may also involve medical service fees for intravenous infusion, regular examinations such as liver and kidney function, cardiac function assessment, and management fees for adverse reactions that may be caused by the drug.

For some patients with limited financial conditions, the burden of lifelong treatment is heavy, and they often need to rely on charitable assistance, clinical trial opportunities, or overseas channels to help purchase drugs. In actual clinical applications, doctors will also make individual adjustments to the treatment duration based on efficacy evaluation, tolerance and patient wishes.

Reference materials:https://www.margenza.com/