Pharmac Consulting On Widening Access To Venetoclax, Azacitidine And Upadacitinib

Pharmac is asking for feedback on a proposal to widen access to three medicines for five health conditions from 1 May 2025. The medicines and health conditions are:

• venetoclax (brand name Venclexta) in combination with azacitidine or cytarabine for a type of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukaemia
• azacitidine to be used with venetoclax for acute myeloid leukaemia
• upadacitinib (brand name Rinvoq) for atopic dermatitis (also known as eczema), ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Geraldine MacGibbon, Pharmac’s Director Pharmaceuticals, says “our team have used their strong negotiation skills to get a great deal from the supplier of venetoclax and upadacitinib, which means we can make them available to more people. We’re also proposing to widen access to azacitidine at the same time so it can be used with venetoclax.”

Pharmac currently funds venetoclax for a different type of blood cancer called chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and funds upadacitinib for some people with rheumatoid arthritis. Azacitidine is currently funded for other types of blood cancer.

“We’re proposing to make these three treatments available for more people. We estimate over 1,100 more New Zealanders will benefit in the first year of funding,” says MacGibbon.

“We’d be grateful to hear feedback about this proposal from people who live with these conditions. We also want to hear from healthcare professionals involved in their care, along with groups who support and advocate for people with these conditions.”

Anyone can provide feedback on this proposal through the Pharmac website before 10 February 2025.

Pharmac will review the consultation feedback to see if there are any issues that require further advice or consideration before making a decision on this proposal.

Pharmac can consider widening access to these medicines following the Government’s $604 million medicine budget increase in June 2024.

Since receiving the additional funding, Pharmac has funded 36 medicines for different health conditions and is currently considering 20 more, including the medicines for the conditions in this proposal.

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