It's hoped Pharmac's latest funding proposal will save hospitals and patients valuable time.

It's looking at funding five new medicines - for breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, eye conditions, and lung cancer.

The proposal includes a new under the skin injection treatment, which could replace some IV infusions.

Roche New Zealand Country Medical Director Dr Kerryn Symons says the injection takes just a few minutes, when infusions usually take several hours.

"Our calculations show that over a period of five years, that the number of hours released in the infusion clinics is about 45,000."

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