Pharmac confirmed it will fund the anti-VEGF treatment Vabysmo (faricimab) for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema in both public and private care.

The result is a turnaround from its initial proposal to only fund Vabysmo in public hospitals, which caused a flurry of submissions from the eyecare industry stressing this would transfer cost from private to public care, further overload public eye health services and lead to increased waiting times and costs for patients.

“In response to the feedback we received during consultation, we have removed the Health New Zealand hospital-only restriction for faricimab,” said Claire Pouwels, Pharmac’s acting manager of pharmaceutical funding. “This will allow people to access treatment more easily, in the same way as other similar eye treatments, such as aflibercept (Eylea).”

Vabysmo, however, will only be funded as a second-line treatment for patients who don’t respond well to the standard Avastin (bevacizumab) anti-VEGF treatment, not as a third-line treatment for the 10% or so of patients who’ve failed to respond to Eylea or Lucentis (ranibizumab), despite eyecare professionals also requesting this.

“Our decisions are guided by robust clinical evidence, advice from health professionals and the lived experiences of people who would benefit from these medicines,” said Pouwels. “In 2024, Pharmac’s Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) advised that there was limited clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of faricimab as a third-line treatment and did not recommend funding it beyond the second-line.”

However, Pouwels acknowledged the feedback received during the consultation and said PTAC would work with Vabysmo’s supplier, Roche, and clinicians on a new funding application.