National Health Insurance Service

South Korea Accelerates Drug Reimbursement Process with New Pilot Program

- South Korea is implementing reforms to reduce drug reimbursement times from approximately 4 years to align more closely with other advanced nations like the US, Japan, and Germany. - A new pilot program called "Approval-evaluation-negotiation linkage system" allows simultaneous review by health authorities, with Recordati's Qarziba and Ipsen's Bylvay being the first drugs included. - The reforms include risk-sharing agreements, waivers for cost-effectiveness analysis for pediatric, rare disease, and cancer treatments, and reduced price negotiation periods from 60 to 30 days.