Based on the results of the state health technology assessment, the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine recommends including the medicinal product durvalumab in the lists of medicinal products procured with state funds using the managed access agreements procedure.
Who is durvalumab indicated for
The medicinal product is used in adult patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer that cannot be removed surgically. The condition is a PD-L1 protein level in the tumour of at least 1%, and the disease does not progress after chemotherapy with platinum-based medicinal products together with radiation therapy.
Why this matters
Lung cancer is one of the most common and dangerous diseases in the world. Approximately 85% of all cases are cases of non-small cell lung cancer. The disease often progresses, and the prognosis for patients is mostly unfavourable: five-year survival is about 15–30%.
Results of the international study
The efficacy of durvalumab was confirmed by the large-scale international PACIFIC study (Spigel et al., 2022), which compared the use of durvalumab as consolidation therapy after chemoradiotherapy with no additional treatment. The results showed that:
- the risk of death decreased by 39% – patients receiving durvalumab lived on average 63,1 months, and those without it – 29,6 months;
- the risk of disease progression or death decreased by 53% – the disease did not return for an average of 24,9 months versus 5,5 months without treatment.
What this means for patients
The decision on procurement is based on an assessment of the clinical efficacy, safety and economic feasibility of the medicinal product. Thanks to this, Ukrainian patients can gain access to modern immunotherapy, which helps control the disease longer and increases the chances of survival.
Important: the HTA conclusion is an expert recommendation of the Center. Decisions on including a medicinal product in the relevant lists, the application of managed access agreements and funding are adopted in accordance with the established procedure.
You can review the full conclusion of the state health technology assessment at the link https://surl.li/tfylun
