Three new asthma drugs, which had been uninsured for at least three years, started the insurance benefit listing process, but only one drug made progress. According to related industries, Handokteva's eosinophilic asthma treatment Cinqair passed the HIRA Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Evaluation Committee.

However, GSK Korea's Nucala and Korea AstraZeneca's Fasenra were not considered.

These drugs are interleukin (IL)-5 antagonists and have a mechanism of reducing the level of eosinophils, a type of leukocyte involved in the induction of asthma. It received attention at the time of approval as a valid treatment option that did not exist before but was not included in the reimbursement list