Vol. 5 No. 7 (2025)
Reimbursement Recommendations

Belzutifan (Welireg)

decorative image of the issue cover

Published July 18, 2025

Versions

Key Messages

  • Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) recommends that Welireg be reimbursed by public drug plans for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following treatment with a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor and a vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGF-TKI) if certain conditions are met.
  • Welireg should only be covered to treat adult patients with RCC that either cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or has started to spread nearby (locally advanced) or to other parts of the body (metastatic). Patients should have a diagnosis of clear cell RCC, a type of RCC in which the cancer cells look clear under a microscope. In addition, patients must have experienced disease progression despite treatment with a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor and VEGF-TKI received in sequence or together. Patients should have a good performance status.
  • Welireg should only be reimbursed if it is prescribed by clinicians with expertise in treating advanced RCC and if the cost of Welireg is reduced.