Balearics approve butterfly skin drug, but patients wait
In Spain’s Balearic Islands, some people with butterfly skin disease have approval for the drug Vyjuvek, but treatment has yet to start there. Patient group DEBRA España said on Friday, 23 October, that the region had agreed to fund individual cases through a special route for medicines. Its director, Evanina Morcillo, hopes a new proposal for funding across Spain will be discussed before the end of the year.
Treatment depends on where patients live
Patients in Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Castile and León, and Catalonia are already receiving Vyjuvek. Aragón has approved individual cases but, like the Balearic Islands, has not begun administering it. The Basque Country has rejected access through the special route for now and is waiting for the drug to be funded by Spain’s national health system.
Morcillo says the differences leave families facing uncertainty and, in some cases, rejected requests. Around 200 people in Spain with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a form of butterfly skin disease, could have a doctor request the therapy on clinical grounds. More than 30 have either started treatment or received approval and are waiting for it to begin.
Wounds improve, but the drug is no cure
Families report that long-standing wounds are beginning to heal, pain is easing and daily wound care takes less time, Morcillo says. Vyjuvek does not cure the disease or suit every form of it. People affected still need continuing care.
Spain’s health ministry and the pharmaceutical company are still negotiating the price and reimbursement. DEBRA España hopes a fresh proposal will bring the drug closer to funding nationwide. For now, approval in the Balearic Islands has not turned into treatment.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com