21 February 2014 - Remember Herceptin? Pharmac's funding of it became a political football in 2008, even becoming an issue at the election. Pharmac would subsidise it for only nine weeks, rather than the 12 months used in the largest clinical trials. It questioned the drug's cost-effectiveness - whether the health benefits from the longer term would justify it taking such a bite out of the total Pharmac budget for medicines. The National government overrode Pharmac and Herceptin was funded for the 12-month course.
Once Herceptin comes off patent, it will become cheaper because generic forms can be made. Pharmac relies on such generic medicines to make its budget stretch further.
That is the good news for cancer patients. Even better news is that new medicines that have fewer side effects and greater efficacy are being developed all the time. That means more people will get through the treatment with less pain and distress.
Cancer patients will obviously want access to the latest and most effective drugs. That will be a challenge for Pharmac, because it will have to pay more money for cancer drugs, which means less money for other medicines.
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