Pharmac says it is to continue to seek an agreement with Novartis that would enable Glivec to be funded for people with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
This follows public feedback strongly against funding the drug for people only in the final two stages of the disease.
"After careful consideration of the information and further analysis, we have decided the most appropriate decision is to go back to the company and try to negotiate a price that would allow us to fund Glivec for a larger group of people," says Pharmac chief executive Wayne McNee.
Discussions so far with Novartis have seen the proposed price of $60,000 to $100,000 per patient per year reduced, however it is still very expensive and not cost-effective according to Pharmac.
