Oslo, Norway, 4 October 2001.
PhotoCure ASA announced today that the Swedish National Social Insurance Board (Riksförsäkringsverket) has approved a reimbursement price for Metvix® cream, thus making the product available to patients under the Swedish reimbursement scheme, supporting the fact that this represents an important new treatment modality. The approved price for a tube of Metvix® is SEK 1300 to pharmacy. The reimbursement scheme ("högkostnadsskydd") allows patients to receive Metvix® paid for by the authorities.
Professor Vidar Hansson, PhotoCure's CEO and President, commented, "We are pleased that Metvix® has been granted Swedish reimbursement approval ahead of the product's planned launch later this month. Reimbursement is important to ensure that all Swedish patients will have access to this novel treatment regardless of ability to pay."
In June, the Swedish authorities approved Metvix® photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in patients where traditional therapies are considered less suitable.
Metvix® PDT is an innovative treatment for pre-malignant skin lesions and skin cancer that combines the local application of Metvix® cream to the skin, which is then absorbed into pre-malignant or malignant cells. The drug is activated through illumination using a proprietary red light source called CureLight. Metvix® PDT kills the pre-malignant or malignant cells selectively and leaves the normal skin intact, thereby healing the skin without causing scars or blemishes.
BCC is the most common form of cancer among Caucasians, with about two million cases documented annually worldwide. It is estimated that there are about 25,000 new cases of BCC in Sweden each year and the corresponding figure in Europe is 500,000. Although BCC is a type of skin cancer that rarely metastasizes, it spreads slowly just below the skin surface and can lead to significant complications. The most difficult lesions, "high risk" BCC lesions, are those which due to size, location (e.g. mid-face) or previous treatment may potentially lead to complications and poor cosmetic outcome associated with complex surgical procedures.
AK, also known as "sun spots", is the most commonly diagnosed pre-malignant skin condition. Worldwide, more than 20 million cases of AK occur each year. Early and effective treatment of AK is important as if it is left untreated a certain number of these lesions may progress to squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive and potentially life-threatening type of skin cancer.