CMS assigns J-code for Eisai's Halaven Injection to treat breast cancer

Eisai Inc. announced today that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has assigned a unique, permanent Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) J-code for Halaven® (eribulin mesylate) Injection. Halaven was approved in November 2010 to treat metastatic breast cancer - breast cancer that has spread - in patients who have received at least two other types of anticancer medicines. Previous therapy should have included an anthracycline and a taxane for either early or advanced breast cancer. The new J-code, J9179, became effective on January 1, 2012.

"We are very pleased to have received the J-Code," said Dave Martin, Vice President, Managed Markets, Value and Access, Eisai Inc. "It will help facilitate reimbursement for providers who have patients who may be candidates for Halaven treatment, thus ensuring access to those patients who need it."

Source: Eisai