Vol. 1 No. 10 (2021)
Reimbursement Recommendations

Azacitidine (Onureg)

Published October 20, 2021

Key Messages

  • CADTH recommends that Onureg be reimbursed by public drug plans as maintenance therapy for the treatment of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have achieved complete remission (CR) or complete remission with incomplete blood count recovery (CRi) after induction therapy with or without consolidation treatment, and are ineligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), if certain conditions are met.
  • Onureg should only be covered to treat adult patients (at least 18 years of age) with newly diagnosed AML who have certain genetic changes that lead to greater risk of having unfavourable disease outcomes (i.e., intermediate- or poor-risk cytogenetics) and who are ineligible for HSCT. Patients eligible for reimbursement of Onureg must have achieved first remission (defined as CR or CRi) following induction with or without consolidation chemotherapy, have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 3, and adequate organ function.
  • Onureg should only be reimbursed if prescribed by clinicians with expertise managing patients with AML, familiarity with Onureg’s toxicity profile exists, and its cost is reduced.