How you can get access to Soliris (Eculizumab) in India: Self Pay Route

Now that Soliris is available in India, it is important for patients and their families and doctors to know how to get access to the drug. It is obviously not something that you can walk into a pharmacy and buy.

The drug can be accessed on one of two ways:

1. Paying yourself for it
2. Getting it through the Government's National Program for Rare Diseases (NPRD)

You can get more information of the contours of the NPRD and how it works here.

The Atypical HUS India Foundation has consulted the manufacturers of the drug and understood the steps to be taken by patients or their families to get access to the drug.

Cost of the drug for self-paying patients

The drug comes in vials of 300 mg each. Each vial costs about Rs. 95,000-100,000. Adults require about 3-4 vials each time, typically twice a month at steady state. There is a higher dosage required in the first few weeks. The dosage for children is typically lower. Please consult your doctor to determine the right dosage and frequency.

Steps to follow to get access to the drug

• The first step is to speak to your doctor to prescribe the drug on a prescription note along with the history and the tests conducted to make the decision to prescribe. Your doctor will need to ascertain your clinical condition to confirm if the drug is likely to help you. A lot will depend on your current clinical condition including (and not limited to) the following:
• Are you recently diagnosed and you still retain significant kidney function?
• Have you progressed to kidney failure requiring dialysis?
• Are you a candidate for a kidney transplant?
• Do you have willing related donor?
• Are you on the cadaver transplant list?
• Once the prescription is ready, your doctor will need to contact AstraZeneca. The Atypical HUS India Foundation can also help make this connection. Email us at ahusindia@gmail.com.
• The company's medical team will then speak with the doctor directly to understand the clinical background and requirements.
• The AstraZeneca commercial team will then liaise with the doctor / hospital pharmacy and arrange the drug through the appropriate authorized distributor.
• Escalation for urgent support: If you face challenges in accessing the drug, or if the physician is temporarily unavailable, you can write to med.info3@astrazeneca.com with a cc to ahusindia@gmail.com and oshin.santoshi@astrazeneca.com.

We will soon publish steps to access the drug through the second pathway - through the government's NPRD.