Special Authority approvals for adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and secukinumab
19 July 2021
Dear [name and contact details withheld]
Request for information
Thank you for your request dated 21 June 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to Special Authority approvals for adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and secukinumab. You requested:
Nationwide Special Authority initiations and renewals by indication for adalimumab, etanercept, secukinumab and infliximab by month from January 2020 to May 2020.
Additionally, you requested we re-check the infliximab data within a previous OIA response published to our website, dated 15 June 2021.
Upon reviewing the published infliximab data, we have confirmed there was a data loading error which resulted in the incorrect figures being shown. We have removed the previously published OIA response from our website and have produced new data for adalimumab, etanercept, secukinumab and infliximab.
Please find attached with this response, the Special Authority approvals data for adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and secukinumab for January 2020 to March 2021.
Please note that Pharmac approaches its assessment of requests for information under the OIA on the basis that, once released, the information becomes publicly available - in other words once we release the information to you it becomes available to any other party in that exact form (whether by you distributing it to others or by virtue of us receiving the same request from a different third party).
Where 10 or fewer applications were approved, we have changed the number shown to "≤10" as we believe this is necessary to protect the privacy of these people (section 9(2)(a) of the OIA).
As required under the OIA, we also considered whether, in the circumstances, the withholding of this information was outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make this information available. In this case we did not consider that the public interest outweighed the reasons for withholding the information.
Please note you have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(3) of the OIA to an Ombudsman, to seek an investigation and review of our decision.
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