New Zealand to fund AstraZeneca's Brilinta for acute coronary syndromes

New Zealand’s Pharmaceutical Management Agency, PHARMAC, says it has reached an agreement with the local subsidiary of Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) to fund the company’s antiplatelet agent ticagrelor (Brilinta).

Ticagrelor will be available under stat dispensing (three months all-at-once) in the community; and confidential pricing arrangements will apply to ticagrelor in the form of annual expenditure caps, above which rebates will apply.

Ticagrelor will be listed in Section B and in Part II of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 July 1, 2013 at the following prices and subsidies (expressed ex-manufacturer, excluding GST): 90mg Brilinta tablets x 56 at NZ$90.00. Ticagrelor will be funded subject to the following Special Authority restrictions in Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule: