Estonia Commits €4M to New Drugs Extending Cancer Survival
Estonia's Health Insurance Fund is investing approximately €4 million to add advanced medications to its public reimbursement list, including specific therapies like atezolizumab for lung cancer, which is projected to more than double the five-year survival rate for certain patient groups.
- —The Estonian Health Insurance Fund (Tervisekassa) has added new medications to its list of reimbursable treatments, significantly expanding access to therapies for various cancers, chronic diseases, and rare conditions.
- —The new additions, which include treatments for lung, cervical, endometrial, and colorectal cancers, as well as lymphoblastic leukemia and multiple myeloma, are expected to cost approximately €4 million in their first year.
- —Specific new treatments include atezolizumab for lung cancer, cemiplimab for cervical cancer, encorafenib and cetuximab for colorectal cancer, and teclistamab for multiple myeloma, aiming to improve survival rates and quality of life for affected patients.
- —Tervisekassa is also now covering treatments for chronic conditions like systemic lupus erythematosus, polymyalgia rheumatica, and transthyretin amyloidosis, with tocilizumab being introduced for polymyalgia rheumatica to reduce reliance on glucocorticoids.
- —Medications for rare diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC), and Alagille syndrome have also been added, with odevixibat being available for PFIC and Alagille syndrome to manage bile acid levels and itching.
Recap
Estonia's €4 million expansion of its drug formulary is a strategic shift towards covering high-cost, high-impact therapies with quantifiable survival benefits. The move prioritizes advanced treatments for specific patient cohorts with aggressive cancers and rare diseases, signaling a policy focused on measurable outcomes over broad, lower-cost interventions. This investment reflects a calculation that the long-term public health gains and improved quality of life justify the significant upfront expenditure.