BRIEF—Jiangsu province adds to rare diseases reimbursement list

The government of China’s Jiangsu province added six rare disease drugs into its local medicines reimbursement list (LDRL).

They are:

0Spinraza (nusinersen) from Biogen for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA);

BioMarin's Vimizim (elosulfase alfa) for Morquio syndrome;

Sanofi's Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) and Cerezyme (imiglucerase) for Pompe disease and type 1 Gaucher disease; and

Two treatments for Fabry disease - Takeda's Replagal (agalsidase alfa) and Sanofi's Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta).

China so far has 55 drugs covered in the NDRL to treat 24 rare diseases, but local governments are allowed to add drugs in LDRL to cover more acknowledged rare diseases in China.

The country is currently preparing the second catalog of acknowledged rare diseases. The first catalog was published in 2018 covering 121 diseases.