Access criteria for new covid treatment

Tāmaki Makaurau – Pharmac has today confirmed the access criteria for the first preventative medicine for covid, Evusheld, for severely immunocompromised New Zealanders.

Being vaccinated and boosted is the best defence against covid, but Pharmac can now provide treatments to prevent more people from becoming very unwell.

The preventative medicine, Evusheld provides an additional layer of protection to those in our communities who need it most and will support the aim of preventing severe illness and hospitalisations as a result of covid, chief medical officer Dr David Hughes says.

"We have developed access criteria to ensure that the treatment is given to those with the highest health need and those most likely to benefit from the treatment.

“Following advice from the clinical experts in our covid treatments advisory group we have prioritised the supply of Evusheld for people who are immunocompromised and most at risk of an inadequate immune response to vaccination or COVID-19 infection.”

Evusheld is available in hospitals and will be available in the community from mid-September. “Pharmac is taking a phased approach to allow additional time for community implementation to be developed with the sector.

They encourage whānau to have conversations with loved ones about the treatment options and ask practitioners to urge their communities to take the precautions that are available to them to stay safe and well.

Evusheld is a combination of 2 monoclonal antibodies targeting different aspects of spike protein on the virus. It is a preventative treatment, given as two separate and sequential injections.

In June, Pharmac secured supply of 216 courses (300 mg) of short dated unapproved Evusheld for immediate use by Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand hospitals for people at very-high risk of severe outcomes from covid infection, prior to the access criteria being finalised.

Following the exhaustion of the 216 courses Pharmac made the decision to release 500 courses of the first delivery to ensure that people at very-high risk of severe outcomes from infection are able to receive treatment prior to Pharmac’s access criteria being finalised.

Pharmac has secured the supply of 20,000 300 mg courses of Evusheld. AstraZenaca, the supplier, has increased the recommended dose from 300 mg to 600 mg. Pharmac has set the criteria to reflect it only has 10,000 doses available.