Pembrolizumab and nivolumab Special Authority data

2 August 2021

Dear [name and contact details withheld] 

Request for information 

Thank you for your request dated 5 July 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to pembrolizumab and nivolumab. You requested: 

the special authority applications/approvals for the month of March 2021

Special Authority data for pembrolizumab and nivolumab

Following on from our previous response on 22 April 2021 regarding your request for information, please refer below for an update of pembrolizumab and nivolumab Special Authority application numbers previously provided. We have provided an update to the numbers for the full request. 

Pembrolizumab - SA1910

Month submitted

Initial Applications

Approvals - initial

Renewal Applications

Approval - Renewal

Total applications

Total approvals

2021-01-01

24

22

64

59

88

81

2021-02-01

26

24

41

38

67

62

2021-03-01

38

34

66

55

104

89

 Nivolumab - SA1911

Month submitted

Initial Applications

Approvals - initial

Renewal Applications

Approval - Renewal

Total applications

Total approvals

2021-01-01

0

0

4

3

4

3

2021-02-01

0

0

0

0

0

0

2021-03-01

0

0

0

0

0

0

Please note:

  • The data provided is an update using the best available data for this period.
  • The data provided is a count of Special Authority approvals, not patients. They do not represent the number of patients being dispensed the relevant medicine in a given period.
  • If a patient has had more than one relevant Special Authority approval, they will be counted more than once in this data. 

We trust that this information answers your queries. We are making our information more freely available, so we now publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this. 

Yours sincerely

Rachel Read
Manager, Policy and Government Services