Migraine Foundation is pleased to report that the CGRP monoclonal antibody fremanezumab (Ajovy) is on the agenda for the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Advisory Committee (PTAC) August 2025 meeting.
PTAC provides objective clinical advice to help Pharmac make decisions about how to use its funds.
Teva, the pharmaceutical company who makes fremanezumab (Ajovy), submitted an application to Pharmac in May 2025 for fremanezumab use in chronic migraine. Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand sent in a letter of support for this application.
Ajovy was approved by Medsafe for use in New Zealand in June 2022.
PTAC assessment is one step in the medication approval process. Following its assessment in August, PTAC will make a recommendation to Pharmac whether Ajovy should be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule and the priority of that listing. PTAC may also choose to refer the application to a specialist committee, such as the Neurological Advisory Committee, to help in this decision.
Ajovy is the third injectable CGRP monoclonal antibody to be considered by PTAC. In June 2024, after our extensive advocacy work, erenumab (Aimovig) and galcanezumab (Emgality) were added to Pharmac’s Options for Investment list, as was atogepant (Aquipta), an oral anti-CGRP medication.
We strongly support a high priority funding recommendation and for Ajovy to join other anti-CGRP medications on Pharmac’s Options for Investment list.
We’ll continue to monitor progress and make recommendations or submissions if and when the opportunity arises. Access to a wide range of migraine-specific preventive medications in New Zealand is in our books a non-negotiable – just one or two isn’t sufficient, when the evidence shows that people who don’t respond to one anti-CGRP often respond to a different one.
We need all the options, as each of these medications have different properties. Ajovy, for example, can be given as 3-monthly injections, whereas Emgality and Aimovig are monthly injections. The three-monthly cycle can be an advantage for people who are frequently travelling, as the injections need to be kept refrigerated.
We’ll continue to advocate, like many other organisations and individuals are doing, to put pressure on the government to increase Pharmac’s budget. Without appropriate investment into new medications, New Zealand will continue to slip further behind other OECD countries in relation to funding of and access to modern medicines.
