People in New Zealand living with a type of blood cancer, systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), will benefit from wider access to the medicine brentuximab vedotin, from 1 April 2026.
This change comes after Pharmac consulted on a proposal for brentuximab vedotin to be used as a first-line treatment option in people newly diagnosed with sALCL.
“This will mean people could receive brentuximab vedotin as a first treatment option, instead of waiting until other options have been tried,” says Pharmac’s Manager of Pharmaceutical Funding, Claire Pouwels. “Around 12 people are expected to benefit in the first year, with around 60 people benefitting over the next 5 years.”
Brentuximab vedotin is currently funded only for people whose lymphoma has returned or has not responded to earlier treatment. Using brentuximab vedotin earlier is expected to support better outcomes for people with sALCL, who often face poor survival rates and significant health needs.
“Systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma is a rare form of cancer that is often diagnosed in people under 55,” says Pouwels. “Making this treatment available earlier has the potential to improve both survival and quality of life.”
Pharmac is improving access to brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) so that it can be publicly funded as a first‑line treatment for people with previously untreated systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). The funding is available from 1 April 2026.
Before this funding decision was made, brentuximab vedotin was only funded for people after first‑line treatment had not worked. This funding change will allow eligible patients to receive it upfront, in combination with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (replacing vincristine).
Brentuximab vedotin is a targeted cancer medicine used to treat systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL). It works by recognising and attaching to a protein called CD30, which is present on the surface of sALCL cancer cells.
Once the medicine binds to these CD30‑positive cells, it is absorbed into them and releases a chemotherapy agent that kills the cancer cell from the inside. This approach allows the treatment to specifically attack cancerous cells while limiting exposure to healthy cells.
When used as a first‑line treatment, brentuximab vedotin is given alongside cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone, taking the place of vincristine in the traditional CHOP chemotherapy regimen. This means it becomes part of a combination therapy designed to treat the disease at an early stage, with the aim of improving patient outcomes by introducing a more targeted option upfront.
