New Zealand Adds Pfizer’s Champix to Smoking Cessation Arsenal

New Zealand’s drug-purchasing agency Pharmac has agreed to fully reimburse patients who use Pfizer’s smoking cessation drug Champix despite earlier concerns about the drug’s safety. Pharmac based its decision on the fact that Champix (varenicline) is now part of Medsafe’s Intensive Medicines Monitoring Programme, which identifies previously unidentified adverse reactions to new medicines and develops adverse event profiles for them. Medsafe is New Zealand’s Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority, which regulates the nation’s drugs and medical devices.
International Pharmaceutical Regulatory Monitor