Anti-cancer medicine oral vinorelbine to be Pharmac funded

From 1 May 2023 oral vinorelbine capsules (vinorelbine Te Arai) will be fully funded by Pharmac, without restriction.[1] Oral vinorelbine is used to treat a number of cancer types including lung and breast cancer.

Oral vinorelbine is more convenient in that it can be taken by people in the community, outside of hospital infusion services. This reduces capacity pressure on infusion services, reduces medicine administration costs and is preferred by people requiring vinorelbine treatment.[2]

'This is an important catch up for New Zealanders and our cancer services. Oral vinorelbine is widely available overseas and was first recommended for Pharmac funding in 2008.' Scott Lissington, Te Arai BioFarma COO.

For further information please see:

The Pharmac decision notification is available here.

The Medsafe oral vinorelbine product information is available here.

[1] Pharmac decision to fund vinorelbine Te Arai, Dec 8 2022.

[2] L Jensen., Randomized cross-over study of patient preference for oral or intravenous vinorelbine in combination with carboplatin in the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Lung Cancer, 2008, 62; 85-91.