Government-backed funding for cancer treatments expanded.
The Associate Health Minister David Seymour and Health Minister Simeon Brown have welcomed Pharmac's decision to fund six new medicines from 1 April 2025. The funded treatments include combination therapy for clear cell kidney cancer, medications for other types of cancers, and a treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections.
Pharmac will cover the costs of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) for advanced clear cell kidney cancer, axitinib (Inlyta) for worsening clear cell kidney cancer, sunitinib for spread kidney cancer, inotuzumab ozogamicin (Besponsa) for relapsed blood cancer, crizotinib (Xalkori) for non-small cell lung cancer with a ROS1 mutation, and ceftazidime with avibactam (Zavicefta) for antibiotic-resistant infections.
According to Minister Brown, this decision is part of the government's commitment to improving access to cancer care in New Zealand. The additional $604 million funding will support faster access to new treatments and earlier detection through screening programs. The government aims to build a world-class health system with the help of these advanced medicines.