Experts at the Ministry of Health do their best to ensure that patients in Slovakia have access to high-quality, modern, innovative treatment. For cancer patients, modern medicine often means saving life or a chance to prolong it. Regional Court in Bratislava On 15 February 2022, in the framework of the review procedure of the administrative decision, the Ministry of Health annulled the decision to include pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the categorisation list. Keytruda is currently a breakthrough advanced treatment for metastatic malignant melanoma and helps patients with skin cancer.
Following a court ruling, the Ministry of Health must remove this medicinal product from the list of categorised medicinal products from 1 April. The decision on whether this medicinal product will be included in the categorisation list, i.e. the list of medicines automatically covered by public health insurance, is returned to the Ministry of Health for re-assessment by a standard process which also includes an assessment of the current pharmaco-economic benefit of the medicinal product.
The Ministry of Health is active in dealing with the participants in this dispute, the manufacturer of the medicinal product and the health insurance companies, in order to ensure continuity in the availability of treatment during the transitional period during which the medicinal product will be re-assessed, said Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský.
The drug manufacturer as well as health insurance companies have clearly declared their will to find a common solution to maintain the availability of this treatment for patients who are currently treated with the medicine and for newly diagnosed patients who may need such treatment in the near futureRóbert Babeľa, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, responsible for drug policy, explained.
Therefore, the product will be covered under the so-called exemptions in the next transitional period of its reassessment. The exact conditions of this method of reimbursement are currently refined in such a way that patients do not experience a lack of treatment since 1 April 2022.
The Ministry of Health and Health Insurance will inform experts who have patients in their care about the exact details in the treatment procedure of patients who are dependent on this medicine.

The Ministry of Health is fully aware of the fact that the medicinal product is currently a breakthrough advanced treatment for metastatic malignant melanoma and believes that its availability will remain after 1 April for all patients whose health conditions require this treatment.