Approval status of essential therapeutic drugs for systemic sclerosis versus that of drugs for rheumatoid arthritis

Systemic sclerosis, a rare disease characterized by chronic multisystem fibrosis, requires lifelong management, necessitating enough insurance coverage for the patient. Official drug approval is the first step to ensuring that the drug is covered by insurance. In this study, we investigated the approval status of essential therapeutic drugs for systemic sclerosis across eight countries and compared it with that of drugs for rheumatoid arthritis. The essential therapeutic drug lists for systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis were taken from the guidelines of the American College of Rheumatology and the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology. Official drug approval status for the selected drugs was confirmed by searching representative Internet databases from eight countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. A total of 21 and 16 drugs were selected for systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively. The drug approval rates of the 21 drugs for systemic sclerosis varied among countries. Most drugs used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, which were developed recently and are expensive, are approved by most countries; however, most older drugs—which are still essential for management of Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital ulcers, interstitial lung disease, and skin fibrosis—are not approved by most countries. By contrast, almost all of the 16 drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, whether old or new, are approved by most countries. Approval rates for drugs used to treat systemic sclerosis, a rare disease, are much lower than those for drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Thus, approval rates of essential therapeutic drugs for systemic sclerosis need to improve, which will benefit patients by increasing the number of drugs covered by insurance.