Pharmac seeks feedback to fund medicines for liver and ovarian cancer

Pharmac currently funds bevacizumab for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis and ocular conditions. These medicines are only listed on the Hospital Medicines Schedule so clinicians can choose what brand to use.

This consultation proposes to fund one main brand of bevacizumab branded as Vegzelma. Pharmac has a provisional contract with the supplier of this medicine following a competitive procurement process.

The consultation proposes to widen access to bevacizumab (branded as Vegzelma) for people with:

• unresectable liver cancer
• advanced ovarian cancer

As part of this proposal Pharmac is consulting on widening access to atezolizumab (branded as Tecentriq) so it can be used in combination with bevacizumab for unresectable liver cancer.

People with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis who are not already using the Vegzelma brand of bevacizumab would need to change brands if this proposal is approved. We have received clinical advice from specialists that this change would be appropriate.

People with eye conditions would be able to use the main funded brand, or another brand their clinician considers most appropriate. We are proposing this because our clinical experts told us that it wouldn’t be appropriate to require this group of people to change brands.

People with ovarian cancer and unresectable liver cancer 

Bevacizumab for cancer works by disrupting blood supply to cancer tumours, which helps to stop tumours growing and spreading. When used for ovarian and liver cancers it is given as an intravenous (IV) infusion every three weeks. It doesn’t cure the cancer, but it helps fight it so that people can live longer.

We expect about 70 of people with ovarian cancer to receive treatment in the first full year of funding.

We expect about 66 people with unresectable liver cancer to receive treatment in the first full year of funding. This group of people would also receive atezolizumab (branded as Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab.

Atezolizumab is a targeted cancer therapy (an immune checkpoint inhibitor form of immunotherapy) that works by helping the body’s immune system fight cancer cells. It is currently funded for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

People with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

Bevacizumab for people with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is used in addition to surgery and may reduce the growth of wart-like tumours (papillomas), improve a person’s voice quality and increase the time between surgical procedures, helping to reduce the number of operations a person needs.

People with eye conditions

Bevacizumab for people with ocular neovascularisation and exudative ocular angiopathy is injected directly into the eye by a healthcare professional and helps to slow vision loss.

In September we published a Request for Tender for the supply of bevacizumab for various cancers: Pharmac indicates interest in funding cancer treatment bevacizumab

We asked suppliers to bid for supply of bevacizumab in two different scenarios. After evaluating the bids and considering clinical advice we are not proposing to fund the medicine for people with a type of brain and spine cancer and people with cervical cancer at this time. 

This is based on further advice from experts on our Cancer Treatment Advisory Committee.

The Committee recommended funding bevacizumab for cervical cancer and it is on our options for investment list. This means it is still something we would like to fund in the future depending on the priority of our funding choices and when the budget is available.

Application Tracker – bevacizumab for cervical cancer(external link)

In October 2024 when the Committee considered funding brain and spine cancer, they told us that while there is a high health need for people with high-grade glioma, there is a lack of evidence of meaningful, clinical benefit from bevacizumab for this condition. The Committee has recommended declining the funding application for this group. This does not mean we have declined the application. If we receive more evidence to support our assessment of this application, we could reconsider the application. If we were to consider declining this application, we would publicly consult on this.

Application Tracker – bevacizumab for glioblastoma(external link)

If the proposal is approved, the main funded of brand of bevacizumab (branded as Vegzelma) would be available, and access would be widened to the medicine from 1 March 2025. People with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis who are not already using the Vegzelma brand of bevacizumab would need to change brands by 1 August 2025.