CAR T-cell therapy in New Zealand

6 April 2023 -

It has been just over a month since the National Service Framework application for an NZ CAR-T service was submitted and endorsed by Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC).

CAR T-cell therapies are licensed for certain lymphomas, myeloma and B-cell leukaemias for routine use in other parts of the world, and LBC wants to see this in New Zealand.  Having a national service framework for a CAR T-cell service is a small but critical step in the journey towards creating this new and innovative service – we want to see these steps quicken and continue!

What is CAR T-cell treatment?   CAR T-cell therapy stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy and works by redirecting a patient’s own immune cells to target cancer cells. For more information visit the Malaghan Institute’s site  https://www.malaghan.org.nz/our-research/car-t-cell/.

The wheels of government do not move with haste, but by coordinating key ‘voices’, we hope to build momentum and maintain the progress of this application. We are pleased to have these voices behind this, including:

• High-level decision-makers (e.g., Hon. Ayesha Verrall and Dale Bramley) are acutely aware of CAR-T, the benefits to NZ, and the hurdles that need to be addressed to establish a service
• Ian Town (Chief Science Advisor) has confirmed that the National Service Framework is the appropriate framework for a CAR-T service, within the existing policy landscape. This will likely be evaluated and funded by Te Whatu Ora
• The Ministry of Health have met with Australia’s Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) to ascertain how NZ can incorporate formal health technology assessment for our clinical service funding decisions, including decisions for a CAR-T clinical service
• The public consultation on precision health (led by Alex Williams) received extensive feedback. Whilst not a policy piece in itself, it is an essential step to inform policy reform for access to precision health including CAR-T cell therapy
• Te Aho o Te Kahu are across the National Services Framework application for a CAR-T service, with further details regarding their position on a NZ CAR-T service to come