Initially scheduled to be available in June 2024, Aspen Pharmacare’s Eikance 0.01% atropine drops are now available to prescribers in New Zealand.

The Aspen team has been working away, co-ordinating manufacturing and supply, following Medsafe registration of the drops late last year, said Catherine Burns, marketing manager Aspen NZ. “We have stock in the country, have liaised with wholesalers to start holding stock and have informed all pharmacies the product is available and they may receive prescriptions.” Ophthalmologists and optometrists can now prescribe Eikance and pharmacies can order it, she said. 

Concerns about the drops’ cost, raised early this year by eyecare professionals, including paediatric ophthalmologist and International Myopia Institute New Zealand ambassador Dr Rasha Altaie, have not quite been allayed, however. “The recommended retail price for Eikance is $59.95, but it is each individual pharmacy’s own decision about what retail price to set,” said Burns. Currently, stock atropine 1% (non-funded) costs $35 per bottle.

Aspen is pricing this for the Australian market, not New Zealand, said Hamilton-based optometrist and practice owner Jagrut Lallu, who specialises in myopia treatment. “It would be great if companies could appreciate there are differences between Australia and New Zealand and not just lump us all in together.” Eikance has been approved in Australia since September 2021.

But price isn’t really the main point, said Lallu. “Eikance will probably be a superior product to the compounded options we have now.” Since Eikance is produced in a purpose-built pharmaceutical facility using careful buffering to avoid the atropine molecule degrading, its effects on myopia should be more consistent and reliable, he said. “And hopefully it will get Pharmac funding, which would be a great win for the whole profession.”

A 2018 Pharmac application for Eikance remains active, with Pharmac’s website stating it was reviewing consultation feedback in February 2024 to inform its funding decision.