Verrica Receives Permanent J-Code for Ycanth for Molluscum Contagiosum

Verrica Pharmaceuticals recently announced that the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a permanent and product-specific J-code, J7354, for cantharidin topical solution 0.7% (Ycanth), the first FDA-approved treatment for molluscum contagiosum. J7354 for Ycanth will become fully published on April 1, 2024.¹

“By securing a permanent J-Code for YCANTH, we have successfully reached a critical milestone in our commercial strategy that we expect will help us accelerate YCANTH utilization among the U.S. Medicaid and Medicare patient populations,” said Ted White, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verrica Pharmaceuticals, in the news release. “In addition to greater patient access, we also anticipate a permanent J-Code will result in a more streamlined billing and reimbursement process for YCANTH.”

According to the news release, J-codes serve as enduring reimbursement codes employed by government payers and commercial insurers to simplify the invoicing of treatments necessitating administration by health care professionals. These codes contribute to the simplification and enhancement of billing and reimbursement procedures, ensuring the smooth processing of claims.

Ycanth was approved by the FDA for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum in adults and pediatric pages aged 2 years and older on July 21, 2023. The approval was based on positive data from 2 identical phase 3 randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trials (CAMP-1 and CAMP-2).²

"Until now, we finally have our very first FDA-approved product, Ycanth, which was known as VP-102, which is a drug-device combination product that applies a very small, precise amount of cantharidin and a surgical dye and is applied in office to the patient’s lesions," said Shanna Miranti, MPAS, PA-C in a prior interview with Dermatology Times. "We can very specifically treat the individual raised bumps. There is a purple-stained dye that is contained in the medication combination, as well, that allows us to see the precise application location, so we know exactly what bumps have been treated and what bumps have not. This will truly start to help those providers who see molluscum—and there are a lot of us out there—gain consistency in our treatments."

Read more from Dermatology Times here.

Ycanth is an exclusive drug-device combination solution featuring a carefully regulated formulation of cantharidin (0.7% w/v) administered through a disposable applicator.² Ycanth was launched commercially in September 2023.

References

1. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Receives Permanent J-Code (J7354) for YCANTH from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. GlobeNewswire. January 29, 2024. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/29/2818804/0/en/Verrica-Pharmaceuticals-Receives-Permanent-J-Code-J7354-for-YCANTH-from-Centers-for-Medicare-and-Medicaid-Services.html
2. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Announces FDA Approval of YCANTH (cantharidin) topical solution 0.7%. Verrica Pharmaceuticals. July 21, 2023. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://verrica.com/press_release/verrica-pharmaceuticals-announces-fda-approval-of-ycanth-cantharidin-topical-solution-0-7/