"60,000 Won in Japan, 300,000 Won in South Korea"... "Import Approval" Opens the Gates, Raising Fears of a Surge in Prescription Trips

Some hospitals in Japan sell a four-week supply of 2.5 mg for about 59,000 won
Lilly Korea: "Difficult to compare directly... We will do our utmost to secure health insurance coverage"

Although Mounjaro, an obesity treatment, is being sold in Japan for as little as around 60,000 won, it costs more than 300,000 won in South Korea, drawing attention to the price gap between the two countries.

Mounjaro. Provided by Lilly Korea. Yonhap News Agency

Yonhap News Agency reported on Nov. 13 that Lilly Korea, which supplies Mounjaro in South Korea, said of the price differences among countries: "We set Mounjaro's supply price by comprehensively considering the product's overall value, efficacy and safety profile, and each country's market and regulatory environment." It added, "The prices reflect fundamentally different health insurance systems in each country and cannot be compared directly."

Mounjaro is an obesity treatment in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) class developed by Eli Lilly. Japan lists Mounjaro as a treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes and others under its national health insurance program and regulates its drug price. More recently, it also cut the price by 25%.

Because Mounjaro is cheaper in Japan than in South Korea, more people are traveling there to obtain it directly. The trend has even spawned the term "Sushizaro," combining "sushi," the Japanese word for sushi, with Mounjaro.

Concerns have been raised that prescriptions for Mounjaro obtained in Japan will surge after the Korea Customs Service, in consultation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, approved the importation of obesity treatments such as Mounjaro on Nov. 12.

Lilly Korea said, "While Mounjaro's innovative value is being recognized, we are also exploring various ways to ensure that patients who need it can access treatment." It added, "We will do our utmost to have Mounjaro covered by national health insurance through communication and cooperation with the government and stakeholders."

This is seen as a move to lower the price patients pay by pursuing national health insurance coverage, rather than immediately adjusting the domestic supply price. However, even without taking insurance coverage into account, the price patients pay for a Mounjaro prescription is far higher in South Korea than in Japan.

The domestic supply price for a four-week course of Mounjaro at its lowest dosage, 2.5 mg, is about 280,000 won. Patients typically have to pay more than 300,000 won when they get a prescription. In Japan, some hospitals reportedly prescribe the same product for around 7,000 yen (about 59,000 won). That is roughly three to five times less than in South Korea. Mounjaro is also reportedly available by prescription at much lower prices in China than in South Korea. In other words, South Korea has the highest supply price to begin with.

As a result, some people online are calling on Lilly Korea to lower Mounjaro's supply price itself. In online communities discussing Mounjaro, users have commented, "Instead of just asking the government to cover it under health insurance, they should lower the price of Mounjaro itself," and "Why is it so expensive only in South Korea?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.