PHARMAC releases review of pembrolizumab (Keytruda)

December 2, 2015

Review Outcome

PHARMAC has today released the outcome of its clinical committees’ review of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for advanced melanoma. Based on their review of the available evidence the committees recommended pembrolizumab be funded and gave this recommendation a low priority. PHARMAC will continue working with the supplier to work towards a funding decision for this medicine.

A summary of the advice from the committees and the PHARMAC application process can be found here.

The minutes from the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) and its Cancer Treatments Subcommittee have been published on the PHARMAC website.

PHARMAC Executive Summary

  • Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is a treatment for patients with advanced melanoma. It is a new way of treating cancer and therefore holds promise. As a very expensive new treatment PHARMAC needs to know whether that promise will be realised.
  • PHARMAC has rapidly assessed the application for providing public funding, and received advice from experts in the field of cancer treatment and data interpretation.
  • According to current data most people who receive pembrolizumab for malignant melanoma will not see a response in their tumours. Of those people that do get a response, it is not clear at this time whether pembrolizumab will help them live longer.
  • The data is not conclusive, but does signal a level of effectiveness in a cancer that has previously had very few treatment options. Our expert advisors recommend pembrolizumab as an option for funding, but not ahead of other medicine funding options that offer a better balance of evidence and price.
  • In order to address these issues PHARMAC will be working with the pharmaceutical company on the future data availability as well as potential commercial solutions.

Source

PHARMAC website: http://www.pharmac.health.nz/tools-resources/resea...

Refer also to Radio New Zealand 3 December 2015 Nine to Noon programme New funding regime needed for revolutionary cancer drugs


« Back to News