The launch date of amivantamab in China

Amivantamab (amivantamab), as an innovative bispecific antibody developed by Johnson & Johnson, has received widespread attention around the world in recent years. It is mainly targeted at patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations in non-small cell lung cancer. Such patients often lack effective options in traditional targeted therapies, so the emergence of amivantamab fills the clinical gap.

In China, this drug was officially approved for marketing in February 2025, with the trade name "Carestream". This time point is of great significance, because in the past, if domestic patients wanted to use the drug, they often needed to go through clinical trial channels or cross-border drug purchase channels, which caused accessibility and economic burden issues. Now, with the launch of Carestream, patients can obtain treatment opportunities through formal domestic channels, and drug quality and medication safety are more guaranteed.

However, it should be noted that Carestream has not yet been included in the medical insurance directory after being approved in China. In other words, patients need to bear the cost of medicines themselves during the medication process. According to the current public market information, the price of each box of medicine with a specification of 350mg/bottle is approximately more than 7,000 yuan. Considering the duration and dosage required for treatment, long-term medication is undoubtedly a heavy burden for the patient's family. This has also made medical insurance negotiations and future price reductions the focus of public and medical circles.

Compared with the international market, China's pricing is still at a moderately high level. In the European and American markets, evantuzumab is a high-priced innovative drug, with the cost of a single course of treatment reaching tens of thousands of dollars. In some Southeast Asian countries, the cost of some generic drugs or parallel import channels is relatively lower. For Chinese patients, whether medical insurance will cover them in the future and whether multinational pharmaceutical companies will make price concessions are key factors affecting accessibility.

The launch of a drug is not only a time point, but also means an expansion of treatment options for clinicians. For NSCLC patients carrying EGFR20 insertion mutations, the emergence of Carestream gives them a clear molecular targeted treatment plan for the first time in China, which not only improves the accuracy of treatment, but may also change the long-term survival pattern.

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