(Yicai) Dec. 9 -- China has included two pricey Alzheimer’s disease treatments from Japan’s Eisai and the US’ Eli Lilly in its first directory of innovative medicines that are covered by commercial health insurance. With a full course of treatment costing more than CNY300,000 (USD42,434), patients are set to save up to 85 percent.

Eisai’s lecanemab and Eli Lilly’s donanemab, which were given the green light in China last year, have been included in the first Commercial Health Insurance Innovative Drug List released by the National Healthcare Security Administration on Dec. 7. Although the exact share that patients will need to pay for each drug is still unclear, they are likely to only need to shell out between 15 percent and 50 percent of the cost.

This amounts to a substantial saving. Lecanemab costs more than CNY200,000 (USD28,300) for a year of treatment while donanemab exceeds CNY300,000, Yu Jintai from the department of neurology at Fudan University's Huashan Hospital told Yicai. A typical course of treatment usually lasts 18 months, meaning that patients will face bills of at least CNY300,000 and up to almost CNY500,000 (USD70,740).

“By including these drugs in the directory of innovative drugs for commercial health insurance, it can help early-stage patients access innovative therapies that are more affordable, slow disease progression and improve quality of life,” said Chen Xiaochun from the department of neurology at Fujian Medical University’s Union Hospital.

Eli Lilly’s donanemab is currently the only approved amyloid protein drug in China for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease where there is evidence showing that patients can stop treatment after the amyloid plaques are cleared.

It was included in the medical insurance coverage of 10 provinces and municipalities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen as of this year, Yicai learned. But only being covered by medical insurance in the megacities is not enough to benefit most patients.

“Apart from the national medical insurance’s basic role, it should also leverage commercial health insurance as a supplement to ensure that breakthrough therapies are properly valued,” an industry insider said. “This will allow early-stage patients of Alzheimer’s disease to gain access to innovative drugs in an affordable, timely and fair way, and speed up the real-world impact of these treatments.”

Meanwhile, Chinese drugmakers, such as Simcere and Innocare Pharma, are also developing related therapies. But most drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease in China are still in the early preclinical stage and it will take some time before they reach full clinical trials, Yicai learned.

Editor: Kim Taylor