Pharmac strikes deal with AstraZeneca which will see Kiwis gain access to medicine for lung and ovarian cancer, severe asthma

New Zealand's drug funding agency has struck a deal with AstraZeneca which will see Kiwis gain access to medicines used to treat lung and ovarian cancer and severe asthma. 

Pharmac secured an agreement with drug-maker AstraZeneca for new discounts on three medicines Pharmac already buys, an extension of medicine for ovarian cancer meaning more people can get it and new medicines to treat people with a severe form of asthma and stage-three lung cancer.

Every year, about 1800 New Zealanders die from lung cancer and Māori are even more at risk. Māori are three times more likely than New Zealand Europeans to develop lung cancer and to die from it.

The new agreement will see Pharmac purchase benralizumab - which is used for treating asthma, and ensure Kiwis have wider access to olaparib, a first-line treatment for some types of ovarian cancer. 

It also includes discounts on drugs used for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and breast cancer. 

Health Minister Andrew Little welcomed the new funding on Wednesday. 

"The Government has increased Pharmac funding by 25 percent over the past four years in order to make deals for new medicines like this possible," Little said.

"The agreement with AstraZeneca includes new discounts on three medicines Pharmac already buys, the extension of a medicine for ovarian cancer to more people and, importantly, the purchase of new medicines to treat people with a severe form of asthma and with stage-three lung cancer.

"The lung-cancer treatment is particularly significant because it offers people with lung cancer the potential to extend their lives more than what is possible now, especially when combined with what might come out of a multi-million dollar research programme about to get underway"

Little said lung cancer is the biggest cause of cancer-related death in New Zealand and effective treatment is incredibly important. 

"Often it isn't diagnosed until it's too late to treat it... It can be difficult for patients and doctors to recognise the symptoms for what they are, and getting access to scans or biopsies for a timely diagnosis may not be easy."

The Health Minister said finding effective and equitable ways to detect lung cancer quickly was one of the goals of new research being funded by Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Health Research Council and the Ministry of Health. He said when lung cancer is detected early it can be treated with medicines like durvalumab, which is part of the AstraZeneca bundle. 

"This is what a joined-up health service looks like - health agencies working together to identify problems and find and implement solutions," Little said.

"We've increased Pharmac's budget to $1.1 billion, but what's just as important is making sure our system of supplying medicines is working with other parts of the health system. That's what our health reforms are about."

In 2021 the Government boosted Pharmac's Combined Pharmaceutical Budget by $200 million over four years. 

It comes after Newshub revealed there were 73 medicines on Pharmac's wish list. Funding each of those drugs would cost more than $400 million every year