Consultations for cancer and ADHD medicines close soon

Pharmac is encouraging people to have their say on proposals to fund six more medicines and change the brand of one medicine before consultation closes on 27 January.

Geraldine MacGibbon, Pharmac’s Director Pharmaceuticals, says there’s just under one week left to give feedback on the proposals to fund six medicines for cancer, one for antibiotic resistant infections, and a brand change of a breast cancer medicine. 

“Hearing from the community and health professionals helps us make the best decisions on behalf of New Zealanders. We want to know if we’ve got the eligibility criteria right, if people would be able to access the medicines once they’re funded, or if there’s any impact to the health sector we haven’t considered.”

Medicines in the consultations that close on Monday 27 January 2025, are:

• nivolumab (branded as Opdivo) and ipilimumab (branded as Yervoy) for kidney cancer 
• sunitinib for kidney cancer
• axitinib (branded as Inlyta) for kidney cancer 
• inotuzumab ozogamicin (branded as Besponsa) for a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
• crizotinib (branded as Xalkori) for a type of advanced non-small cell lung cancer with specific gene mutations 
• ceftazidime with avibactam (branded as Zavicefta) for antibiotic resistant infections
• brand change for palbociclib, a medicine for some people with breast cancer

Pharmac is also consulting on a joint proposal with Medsafe to increase access to ADHD medicines. The consultation is considering changes to the regulations and funding restrictions stimulant treatments. This closes Tuesday 11 February 2025. 

The consultations are available to view on the Pharmac website. Anyone can provide feedback and it can be submitted through an online form or to consult@pharmac.govt.nz