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A new treatment option for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) could alleviate resource strains on New Zealand's health system.
Medsafe has registered Ocrevus Subcutaneous, a 10-minute injection for relapsing and primary progressive MS.
It offers the same proven efficacy as the current intravenous infusion method which patients receive between every six weeks to six months, and can take anywhere from a few hours to much of a day.
President of MS Taranaki and vice-president of Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand (MSNZ), Graham Walker, said it was going to lead to better outcomes for people with MS.
"It'll free up resources in the health system," he said.
"I get an infusion of this product, I get it every six months, I go into the day ward at the New Plymouth hospital. They have sped it up, but I used to get in at about half-past-eight and I was still there until about 5pm, it was all day.
"I'd have a space in their day ward and there's a whole lot of nurses running around looking after me checking to see if everything is okay. But with this new subcutaneous job, they give it to you in 10-15 minutes and it doesn't take all those resources," Walker said.
The 67-year-old former competitive cyclist was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS in 2013 and was one of the first people in New Zealand to receive treatment for the disease.
He said time and the availability of infusion chairs at hospitals has been one of the greatest challenges for patients.
"In Christchurch for instance I have a friend of mine who waited almost 12 months before he could get an infusion because there was no space in the day ward and no staff available to give him the infusion.
"So this is really really important for multiple sclerosis," he said.
Dr Kerryn Symons, country medical director at Roche NZ, said multiple sclerosis was a chronic, lifelong condition that progressively got worse during your lifetime.
"It's caused by inflammation in the body and that inflammation attacks the insulation around the nerves.
"So if you think of nerves as being like electrical wires, electrical wires have insulation around them in the human body that is called myelin and in multiple sclerosis, the myelin is broken down so that the electrical signals don't get through as well as they should.
"What Oprevus does is it reduces the inflammation so that the damage to the nerves is slowed down and the people's signs and symptoms are slowed down and the progression of the disease is halted."
Amanda Rose, national manager of MSNZ, said about 5000 people in New Zealand had been diagnosed with MS, but only 3000 were receiving treatment.
"The average age of diagnosis is around 38 in New Zealand, and symptoms can range from fatigue and muscle weakness, difficulties with mobility, pain in particular, and as a progressive condition is untreated and unmanaged, those symptoms can get significantly worse over time.
"New Zealand has a fairly high influence and at the lowest south that you go in New Zealand, you've got a higher incidence of MS than further north. It's still very much unknown around what the causes are of MS.
"I think that's a significant milestone that could be achieved and we'll give a lot of time back to supporting other health conditions as well and other patients.
"What a 10-minute treatment would obviously do is give people back time to get on with their lives.
"It means that they don't have to take significant time away from work, they don't necessarily have to travel long distances in order to access their treatment, and so it removes a lot of those barriers."
Symons said the arrival of the Ocrevus Subcutaneous injection would also be beneficial for patients dealing with other illnesses.
It's estimated it will free up more than 1300 days of equivalent hospital infusion time in New Zealand annually.
"This version of the medicine really offers a lot greater flexibility for people with MS and their healthcare professionals to reduce the amount of time that they take travelling to hospital and spending in hospital," she said.
"The impact on the healthcare system is quite significant. We've estimated that it could save up to 1300 days worth of infusion chair time every year.
"Those infusion chairs could be used by other people with, for example, cancers or other disorders that require intravenous infusions.
"We think that this is great for the healthcare system, great for patients with multiple sclerosis and great for the economy."
She said the Ocrevus Subcutaneous injection was submitted to Pharmac back in August last year, with the Pharmac Clinical Advisory Committee giving Ocrevus Subcutaneous a high priority recommendation.
