(MSD) Welcomes News That Pharmac Is Proposing To Fund KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) For 5 Additional Cancer Types

Merck Sharp & Dohme (New Zealand) Limited (MSD) welcomes news that Pharmac is consulting on a funding proposal for KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) for five additional types of cancer.
Vanessa Gascoigne, MSD New Zealand Director, says, "Today’s news is a major step towards ensuring that more New Zealanders living with cancer may soon be able to access KEYTRUDA and other therapies. MSD believes patients should have access to KEYTRUDA where clinical evidence exists of its benefits. This access should be fair and equitable regardless of tumour type."
If implemented, Pharmac's consultation would potentially expand access to KEYTRUDA for eligible patients with certain types of cancer, including a type of blood cancer (Classical Hodgkin lymphoma), bladder cancer (Urothelial carcinoma), head and neck cancer (Squamous cell carcinoma), colon or large bowel cancer (Colorectal cancer), and breast cancer (Triple-negative breast cancer).
Pharmac estimate that this expansion could make approximately 370 additional people eligible for KEYTRUDA treatment in the first year of funding.
KEYTRUDA is an immunotherapy cancer medicine registered with Medsafe for 27 indications across 14 different cancer types.[2] Currently, Pharmac funds KEYTRUDA for individuals with certain types of advanced melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
Over the past six years, 20 additional funding applications have been submitted to Pharmac for other uses of KEYTRUDA.[3],[4],[5]
MSD is committed to collaborating closely with Pharmac and the wider the health system to ensure eligible cancer patients across New Zealand can get access to KEYTRUDA as soon as possible.
"Today’s news is encouraging for people with cancer who may soon be eligible for KEYTRUDA treatment. We are continuing to work with Pharmac to make KEYTRUDA available for a broader range of cancer types, expanding the benefits of this therapy to more patients in need”, she added.
The consultation is open until 4pm, Friday 26 July 2024. Further information and the opportunity to feedback to the consultation is available at consult@pharmac.govt.nz. We encourage patients, doctors, and all interested stakeholders to have their say.
KEYTRUDA is a type of cancer treatment called an immunotherapy. KEYTRUDA helps your immune system do what it is designed to do: find and fight cancer.
KEYTRUDA can be used to treat many different types of cancer but is currently only funded in New Zealand for the treatment of patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer which has spread (metastatic) or is advanced and cannot be removed by surgery.

Consumer Mandatories[6]
KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) is available as a 100 mg/4 mL concentrate for solution for infusion.
The KEYTRUDA Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is available at www.medsafe.govt.nz.
KEYTRUDA is a Prescription Medicine and may be used in adults:

• After surgery to remove melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer or renal cell carcinoma to help prevent the cancer from coming back.
• Before surgery to treat triple-negative breast cancer and then continued after surgery to help prevent the cancer from coming back.
• To treat bladder cancer which has not spread to nearby tissues but is at high-risk of spreading and where bladder removal is not preferred.
• To treat classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL) that has returned or when other treatments have not worked.
• To treat certain cancers when the cancer has spread (metastatic) or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable), such as:
• melanoma
• non-small cell lung cancer
• urothelial carcinoma
• head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
• renal cell carcinoma
• gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma
• oesophageal carcinoma
• cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
• cervical cancer
• endometrial carcinoma
• triple-negative breast cancer
• a kind of cancer that can occur in any part of the body and is shown by a laboratory test to be microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)
• colon or rectal cancer that is shown by a laboratory test to be MSI-H or dMMR.

KEYTRUDA may be used in children with cHL, MSI-H or dMMR cancer, or after surgery to remove melanoma. It is not known if KEYTRUDA is safe and effective in children with MSI-H or dMMR cancer of the brain or spinal cord (central nervous system cancers).

You should not be given KEYTRUDA if you are allergic to pembrolizumab or to any of the other ingredients listed at the end of the CMI.

KEYTRUDA can cause harm or death to unborn babies. Talk to your doctor if you are a woman who could become pregnant and use effective contraception while you are being treated with KEYTRUDA and for at least 4 months after the last dose of KEYTRUDA. Do not breastfeed while taking KEYTRUDA.

Serious immune-mediated side effects have occurred affecting the lungs, intestines, liver, kidneys, hormone glands, blood sugar levels, skin, other organs and in transplant recipients. Some of these side effects can sometimes become life-threatening and can lead to death. These side effects may happen anytime during treatment or even after your treatment has ended and you may experience more than one side effect at the same time. Serious infusion reactions have also occurred.

Very common side effects with KEYTRUDA alone include diarrhoea, nausea, itching, rash, joint pain, back pain, feeling tired, cough, patches of discoloured skin, stomach pain, decreased levels of sodium in blood and low levels of thyroid hormone.

When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with chemotherapy, hair loss, vomiting, decrease in white-blood cell count, mouth sores, fever, decreased appetite, and swelling of the lining of the digestive system (for example mouth, intestines) were also commonly reported.

When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with axitinib, high blood pressure, fatigue, low levels of thyroid hormone, decreased appetite, blisters, or rash on palms of your hands and soles of your feet, increase in liver enzyme levels, hoarseness, and constipation were also commonly reported.

When KEYTRUDA was given in combination with lenvatinib, high blood pressure, decreased appetite, low levels of thyroid hormone, vomiting, weight loss, headache, constipation, hoarseness, urinary tract infection, stomach-area (abdominal pain), blisters or rash on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet, protein in your urine, increased in liver enzyme levels and feeling weak were also commonly reported.

The most common side effects when KEYTRUDA is given alone to children include fever, vomiting, headache, stomach pain, decrease in number of red blood cells, cough, and constipation. (v49)

KEYTRUDA has risks and benefits. Talk to your doctor to see if KEYTRUDA is right for you. If symptoms continue or you have side effects, tell your doctor.

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