11 August 2022 - The available evidence for 2022 suggests the innovative pharmaceutical industry has very little interested in preparing/lodging funding applications for new medicines to PHARMAC.

PHARMAC has published the agendas for the PTAC meetings held in February, May and August this year. Another meeting will be held in November; the agenda for this meeting understandably has not bee published. Below is a summary of the agenda for the first three PTAC meetings for 2022. The summary notes the applicant as stated in the PHARMAC Application Tracker.

February 2022

• Empagliflozin (Boehringer Ingelheim)
• Palivizumab (clinician)
• Paracetamol with ibuprofen (clinician)
• Ferric carboxymaltose (clinician)

May 2022

• Osimertinib mesylate (AstraZeneca)
• Upadacitinib monohydrate (AbbVie)
• Bevacizumab (Roche)
• Sodium hypochlorite (clinician)
• Testosterone (consumer)

August 2022

• Cannabidiol (clinician)
• Micronutrients (clinician)
• Fomepizole (clinician)
• Siponimod hemifumarate (Novartis)
• Ticagrelor (clinician)

In summary, the PTAC has just considered 14 funding application so far this year. This is a very low number.  Of the 14 applications, only four were prepared/lodged by an innovative pharmaceutical company. There has only been one application for a cancer medicine. Not one funding application from Pfizer, Merck/MSD or Janssen. The situation can only be described as dire. 

We could of course, be totally mistaken. PHARMAC has received many more funding applications but has chosen not to seek advice from the PTAC for at the present time or has decided that advice from PTAC is not required. What do you think?