To improve survival rates and reduce mortality among cancer patients as part of the Healthy Taiwan policy, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) convened a Joint Committee Meeting (the 75th Meeting for Pharmaceuticals) on April 17, 2025. The meeting approved the use of immunotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, and early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. This resolution is expected to benefit approximately 3,400 cancer patients, supported by the Special Fund for Provisional Listing of Cancer Drugs, which will allocate around NT$3,295 million annually to cover immunotherapy expenses. The policy is set to take effect as early as June 2025. This marks another significant step forward for cancer treatment in Taiwan.

Lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer ranked as the top three cancers by incidence in Taiwan in 2022. As immunotherapy has become a global trend in cancer treatment, the NHIA has been actively introducing immunotherapy in line with international treatment guidelines. The goal is to accelerate access for cancer patients to high-evidence-level drugs recommended by global guidelines, thereby alleviating their financial burden.

The NHIA is committed to including clinically effective drugs in the National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage and aligning with international treatment guidelines. In the evaluation of drug reimbursement, NHIA refers to the U.S. National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. According to the 2025 Version 3 NCCN guidelines for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), drugs containing pembrolizumab and atezolizumab are both classified as Category 1 (high level of evidence). In the 2025 Version 3 guidelines for invasive breast cancer, pembrolizumab-containing drugs are listed as Category 1 and recommended as a preferred treatment, with reimbursement supported by all three major health technology assessment (HTA) bodies. In the 2025 Version 1 guidelines for colon cancer, pembrolizumab-containing drugs are categorized as 2A, and also recommended for reimbursement by all three major HTA organizations. As a result, with the joint efforts of medical professionals, payer representatives, and patient advocacy groups, NHIA has agreed to expand the reimbursement indications for pembrolizumab and atezolizumab through the signing of drug reimbursement agreements.

Director-General Chung-Liang Shih of the NHIA stated that to enhance the quality of care for patients, the NHIA is committed to the inclusion of new drugs and the expansion of reimbursement coverage, as well as negotiating drug reimbursement agreements with pharmaceutical companies. For the expanded coverage of pembrolizumab- and atezolizumab-containing drugs, NHIA conducted multiple rounds of negotiations with manufacturers, including discussions regarding the chemotherapy and targeted therapy drugs used in combination. Special thanks go to the manufacturers of the domestically produced generic chemotherapy drug pemetrexed—marketed as Pexeda by TTY Biopharm Company Limited and Apeta by YungShin Pharmaceutical Industrial Co., Ltd.—for agreeing to adjust the NHI reimbursement price. This helps strengthen the resilience of Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply chain and enables more cost-effective reimbursement based on clinical evidence within the constraints of the NHI's limited resources. Moving forward, NHIA will continue to align with international treatment guidelines as financial sustainability allows, enabling more patients to benefit and safeguarding public health.