New Zealand’s PHARMAC to fund Sensipar; consult on Sirturo, Sylvant

New Zealand’s Pharmaceutical Management Agency PHARMAC announced today (April 12) its decision to list cinacalcet (Sensipar) on the Pharmaceutical Schedule through an agreement with the local subsidiary of US biotech major Amgen (Nasdaq: ANGN) from May 1,2016 for:

• patients with parathyroid carcinoma with symptomatic hypercalcemia resistant to bisphosphonates and sodium thiosulfate, subject to Special Authority criteria;
• patients with symptomatic calciphylaxis after failure of bisphosphonates and sodium thiosulfate, subject to Special Authority criteria.

Cinacalcet (Sensipar) 30mg tablets will be listed in Section B and Part II of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from May 1 at the following price and subsidy (ex-manufacturer, excluding GST) at a proposed price of NZ$403.70 for a 28 tablet pack.

Seeks feedback on listing Janssen’s bedaquiline and siltuximab

Separately, PHARMAC said it is seeking feedback on a proposal to list bedaquiline (Sirturo) and siltuximab (Sylvant) resulting from a provisional agreement between Janssen-Cilag Pty, a local subsidiary of US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

The provisional agreement is the fourth that PHARMAC has reached with a bidder in a Request for Proposals it ran in 2014, related to the supply of medicines for rare disorders.

In summary, this proposal would result in:

• Sirturo being funded in the community and in DHB hospitals for the treatment of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Listing in the Pharmaceutical Schedule would occur subject to Medsafe approval of the pharmaceutical; and
• Sylvant being funded in the community and in DHB hospitals for treatment of HIV-negative, HHV-8 negative multicentric Castleman’s disease. This listing would occur from June 1, 2016.

Source: The Pharma Letter