Blood Cancer NZ welcomes Pharmac’s proposal to fund targeted medicines for the initial treatment of people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Closing this treatment gap for these patients has been a focus of our advocacy, and we are pleased to see this proposal for funding announced.
Pharmac has today announced its proposal to fund venetoclax in combination with ibrutinib, and venetoclax in combination with obinutuzumab.
Patients consistently tell us they value certainty about treatment duration, the ability to receive care closer to home, and the opportunity for treatment-free intervals. This proposal reflects those preferences and would enable more people to spend time living well outside the hospital setting.
In addition to patient benefit, reducing reliance on intravenous infusions and repeated hospital visits would ease pressure on clinical staff and infusion capacity. That means fewer hospital visits for patients and more efficient use of health system resources.
Comparable health systems have already adopted targeted therapies as standard care, recognising both the clinical and system-level benefits. Funding these treatments, and others recommended on Pharmac’s investment waitlist, would bring New Zealand into closer alignment with other countries.
Many CLL patients have chosen to self-fund these medicines in order to continue living well and maintain their quality of life. For them, this proposal offers relief that we may be one step closer to lifting a significant financial burden. For many others, however, self-funding is simply not an option. Public funding of standard-of-care treatments such as these is an important step toward strengthening equity of medicines access within our health system.
If funded, venetoclax in combination with ibrutinib would mark a shift from hospital-based, toxic chemotherapy toward targeted, fixed-duration oral treatment that people can take at home with fewer side effects. While obinutuzumab includes a period of intravenous treatment, it similarly offers a fixed-duration, targeted regimen and provides an important alternative for people who may not tolerate other therapies.
“This proposal recognises that timely access to effective medicines supports both patient outcomes and improved efficiency of our health system,” says Rosie Shaw, Head of Advocacy at Blood Cancer NZ. “Fixed-duration targeted therapy can avoid toxic chemotherapy and long-term health service demand, while giving people more time feeling well and participating fully in family and everyday life.”
Blood Cancer NZ will submit in support of the proposal and encourages patients, clinicians, and advocacy organisations to share their views before consultation closes at 5pm on 4 March 2026.
