CMS Grants New Technology Add-on Payment to ZEMDRI (plazomicin)

Achaogen (NASDAQ:AKAO), a biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and commercializing innovative antibacterial agents to address multi-drug resistant (MDR) gram-negative infections, today announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted a new technology add-on payment (NTAP) for ZEMDRI when administered in the hospital inpatient setting.

As quoted in the press release:

The NTAP program will provide hospitals with a payment, in addition to the standard-of-care Diagnostic Related Group (DRG) reimbursement, of up to 50% of the cost of ZEMDRI for a period of two to three years, effective in the 2019 fiscal year starting on October 1, 2018. CMS has assigned a maximum payment of $2,722.50 for a patient treated with ZEMDRI. Cases involving ZEMDRI that are eligible for NTAP will be identified by unique ICD–10–PCS procedure codes XW033G4 and XW043G4.

In the final rule concerning Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2019 Rates, CMS stated that “ZEMDRI offers a substantial clinical improvement for patients who have limited or no alternative treatment options because it is a new antibiotic that offers a treatment option for a patient population unresponsive to currently available treatments” and that “ZEMDRI meets all the criteria for approval of new technology add-on payments.” Additional information on the final rule and its discussion of NTAP and ZEMDRI can be found online at: HIPPS. This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on August 17, 2018.

Click here to read the full press release.