New Zealand approves melanoma reimbursement for Opdivo
Source: Fierce Pharma, June 2022
New Zealand’s Pharmaceutical Management Agency, or PHARMAC, has given a reimbursement approval for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s ($BMY) Opdivo (nivolumab) to treat melanoma, while still in a back-and-forth with Merck ($MRK) on Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the same indication.
Skin cancer is the most common form in New Zealand, according to the Cancer Society of New Zealand, with public campaigns for reimbursed access to a therapy to treat the disease pitched in the past year and that accelerated after PHARMAC said in December 2015 it would not yet fund Keytruda.
This week however the agency announced an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb to pay for Opdivo in patients with advanced melanoma starting July 1. The reimbursement deal includes a confidential rebate provision, PHARMAC said on its website.