Newly funded medicine to benefit 110 more people with thyroid, liver, and kidney cancer

8 November 2024

Media release Medicines

Pharmac has decided to fund lenvatinib from 1 December 2024 for people with some types of thyroid, liver, and kidney cancer.

Lenvatinib (branded as Lenvima) stops the number of cancer cells from increasing, slowing the cancer’s progression. The medicine is taken as oral capsule that people can take at home.

“We know how important cancer medicines are to people’s lives, so we’re really pleased to provide more treatment options for people with these types of cancer,” says Dr David Hughes, Pharmac’s Chief Medical Officer.

Lenvatinib will be the first targeted treatment for people with a specific types and stages of thyroid and liver cancer. Previously these people have only received supportive care that provides comfort and relief from their symptoms.

“Funding lenvatinib will give some people with thyroid and liver cancer a treatment option they haven’t had before. It will give them the chance to have a better quality of life and live longer,” says Hughes.

People with kidney cancer that has spread will also be eligible to receive lenvatinib, that will be taken with another medicine called everolimus. It will be used as a second treatment option. Alternatively, they can use nivolumab which we funded from 1 November 2024.

Hughes says feedback on the public consultation helped Pharmac make small changes to the final eligibility criteria for kidney and thyroid cancer to make sure the right people can access treatment.

“People with kidney cancer experiencing severe side effects with nivolumab will be able to move to lenvatinib with everolimus so they can continue to receive treatment. We’ve also updated how we describe the eligibility criteria for thyroid cancer so it’s easier for clinicians to understand who the treatment is funded for.”

This funding decision is part of a package of additional funding allocated by the Government in June 2024. As of today, Pharmac has made decisions to fund 26 medicines for specific cancer and non-cancer health conditions.

Decision to fund lenvatinib for thyroid, liver and kidney cancers and widen access to everolimus for kidney cancer

Media resources

Audio file | Dr David Hughes talks about our decision to fund lenvatinib [MP3, 1.8 MB]

YouTube link | Dr David Hughes talks about our decision to fund lenvatinib(external link)

Pronunciation Guide

lenvatinib – len-va-tih-nib
everolimus – eh-veh-roh-lih-mus

Questions and answers

What is Pharmac funding?

We’re funding lenvatinib (branded as Lenvima) for:

metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer – a type of thyroid cancer where the cancer cells look similar to normal thyroid cells. It is the most common type of thyroid cancer. People eligible for funding have cancer that has not responded to radioactive iodine treatment and the cancer has spread in the body.
unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma – a type of liver cancer that cannot be removed with surgery. It is one of the most common types of liver cancer and is often diagnosed at a late stage in the disease.
metastatic renal cell carcinoma – a type of kidney cancer where the cancer has spread in the body. It is the most common type of liver cancer.

We’re also widening access to everolimus (branded as Afinitor) so it can be used with lenvatinib for eligible people with kidney cancer.

Access is subject to eligibility criteria detailed on the decision webpage

Who will benefit and how?

What changes did you make in response to consultation feedback?

For thyroid cancer, we were asked to describe the eligible population in more detail in the criteria. We sought advice from our expert advisors about this and it told us that it would be appropriate to make this clarification, so we have updated the wording of the eligibility criteria.

For kidney cancer, we were asked to expand the eligibility criteria so that people who are experiencing severe side effects with nivolumab (a different medicine) would be eligible. We have made this change.

How will Pharmac fund this?

When will this medicine be available?

What other medicines are you considering for liver and kidney cancer?

People have told us they would like to see atezolizumab and bevacizumab funded for liver cancer. We are currently running a procurement process that could widen access to bevacizumab. We have an application on our options investment list that we could progress in the future, depending on the priority of our funding choices and if there is funding available.

Application Tracker: atezolizumab and bevacizumab – first line treatment(external link)

People have told us they would like to see other medicines funding for kidney cancer as a first treatment option. We have multiple applications on our options for investment list that we would like to fund, including: