News item | 24-04-2025 | 10:05 AM
The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, Fleur Agema, has decided to reimburse the new immunotherapy Dostarlimab (brand name: Jemperli®) from now until the end of 2026 from the basic package of health insurance. The minister follows a positive advice from Zorgstituut Nederland. The medicine can be used in combination with chemotherapy in the treatment of a specific group of patients with uterine cancer.
According to the Healthcare Institute, the medicine has added value for patients: in combination with chemotherapy, it increases their chance of survival. In addition, Dostarlimab is cost effective. This means that the costs of treatment are in reasonable proportion to the expected health gain for patients. The Healthcare Institute advised the minister to first make price agreements with the manufacturer and to take price agreements of comparable immunotherapies into account.
Minister Agema: “I am pleased that the negotiations have been successful and that from now on the basic insurance can be used of this medicine. Women who benefit from the drug can be fully reimbursed until at least December 31, 2026. Then I will have to return to the table again to see if we can also come out before 2027 and further.”
Patient
The Dostarlimab medicine is an immune therapy that is administered through an infusion. It is a treatment that ensures that the own immune system better helps to destroy cancer cells. Dostarlimab can be used in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of certain patients with advanced (metastatic) or recurring uterine cancer.
Expensive medicines in the lock
Medicines used in the hospital are usually admitted to the basic health insurance package without special agreements about use and price. But if new medicines are very expensive, they can be kept out of the basic package. They are then moved to the so -called Medicines lock. Then an assessment is first required by the independent experts at the Healthcare Institute. They assess the medicine on, among other things, effectiveness and cost -effectiveness. The Healthcare Institute then advises the minister or the drug to be admitted to the basic insurance, and at what price. The minister then makes a decision about admission, and can negotiate the conditions of admission and the price. That has now also happened with Dostarlimab.