6 December 2018 - Further analysis of the ten new patent protected medicines (i.e. new chemical entities) listed in the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule in 2018.

The ten medicines span a range of disease and conditions; two are for use by patients with cancer, another two are for use by patients with a rare disease/condition.

The mean time from the date of Medsafe approval to the date of listing in the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule for these ten medicines is 1,851 days or 5.1 years.  The lowest value is 293 days and the highest value is 4,116 days.

It is important to note that the indication/patient population associated with the medicine's initial Medsafe approval might not coincide with the indication/patient population associated with its listing in the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule.