Tens of thousands of Australians will soon have cheaper access to life-changing medicines, with 10 new and expanded treatments being added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
From July 1, eligible patients will pay a maximum of $25 per script, or $7.70 with a concession card, for medicines that can otherwise cost hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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The new listings include Tezepelumab, sold as Tezspire, for patients aged 12 and over with severe uncontrolled asthma.
The injection helps reduce inflammation in the airways and lowers the risk of asthma attacks.
For 22-year-old Chloe Thompson, severe asthma has made everyday life a battle.
“It’s really tough to live with severe asthma,” she told 7NEWS.
“A bad day looks like waking up multiple times throughout the night, can’t breathe….you feel like you’re trapped”
Health Minister Mark Butler described the July listings as a “blockbuster month” for cheaper medicines.
“This is genuinely life-changing,” he said.
“It may well prevent people from being hospitalised.”
Other new listings include Neffy, the first adrenaline nasal spray listed on the PBS for children over four and adults at significant risk of anaphylaxis.
It offers an alternative to injectable adrenaline, with about 150,000 Australians expected to benefit.
For mum Kirsti Wetton, whose daughters live with severe food allergies, it is a major breakthrough.
“It’s going to be a really amazing addition to our first aid kit,” she said.
“It’d give us more freedom.”
The PBS will also subsidise Somapacitan, sold as Sogroya, a weekly growth hormone treatment for children with growth hormone deficiency, and Insulin degludec, sold as Tresiba Penfill, a long acting insulin for people with type 1 diabetes.
Cancer medications among the reduced cost haul
Several cancer medicines will also be added or expanded.
Romidepsin, sold as Romidepsin-Reach, will be listed for some adults with peripheral T-cell lymphoma, a rare blood cancer.
Alectinib, sold as Alecensa, will be expanded for some lung cancer patients, while Pertuzumab, sold as Perjeta, will be expanded for more than 3,300 Australians with high risk HER2 positive early breast cancer.
The Federal Health Minister has conceded the pharmaceutical benefit scheme is under growing pressure as billion-dollar drug companies demand higher prices for their products.
Osimertinib, sold as Tagrisso, will be expanded for some patients with EGFR mutated non-small cell lung cancer.
Futibatinib, sold as Lytgobi, will be listed for some patients with advanced cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that forms in the bile ducts.
Rozanolixizumab, sold as Rystiggo, will be listed for adults with generalised myasthenia gravis, a chronic condition that causes worsening muscle weakness and can affect breathing, swallowing and speech.
Some patients are left behind
But while some patients are gaining access to new medicines, others are still being left behind.
Jessica Panigiris, 36, who has a rare form of ovarian cancer, said many treatments remain out of reach.
“A lot of the medications that we need aren’t covered under the PBS,” she said.
Rare Cancers Australia chief executive Christine Cockburn said the system is too slow.
“Unfortunately the pace that medicines are coming to market to Australian patients is far too slow,” she told 7NEWS..
“In the worst circumstances of course people just go without in which case they’re having substandard therapies or they’re going without completely and you can only assume the outcomes are worse and they’re dying sooner.”
PBS under pressure amid push for higher prices globally
The pressure on the PBS is also growing as pharmaceutical companies push for higher prices and global drug pricing shifts in the United States.
It comes as AstraZeneca prepares to pull Zoladex from Australian shelves in November, leaving thousands of women who rely on the hormone blocking treatment for breast cancer, endometriosis and other conditions facing uncertainty.
Breast cancer survivor, 33-year-old mother Rhiannon Abshoff, said the monthly injection has given her hope of a longer future.
“For me they’re life-extending,” she said.
“They make sure that I can dream about having a really long future.”
She only found out about the drug’s removal on social media.
“First I was really s****y because I found out on social media, which is not how anyone should ever find out that their drug’s being pulled off the shelves,” she said.
“Then I was even more annoyed that it’s for Australia and not other countries. That feels like purely a financial decision on something that’s my life.
“I don’t want to live my life six months at a time.
“You spend a year in treatment fighting cancer to get to the end and feeling that you’ve got some security and some sense of certainty back and the truth is that we don’t. And to know that the certainty of my life comes down to the hands of a pharmaceutical company really sucks.”
AstraZeneca says it will provide free access to the drug for patients who cannot receive alternative treatments, but there’s no indication how long that will last.
President of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Nisha Khot told 7NEWS it’s a devastating blow for women’s health.
“Women rely on this medication to be able to function in their lives to be able to preserve their fertility so that they can have children in the future. This is a huge blow for women’s health,” Khot said.
“If we are serious about women’s health, then we need to fund women’s health properly.”
The company is seeking PBS approval for a stronger three-month injection.
Health Minister vows to continue improving the PBS
Butler acknowledged the PBS is under increasing pressure as the number of breakthrough medicines continues to grow and pharmaceutical companies push for higher prices.
He said Australia was also dealing with uncertainty in the global medicines market following recent changes to drug pricing policy in the United States, which has prompted companies to take a tougher approach during PBS negotiations.
“That means often we’re in a price negotiation with those companies to deliver a price that works for them, but also works for taxpayers as well,” he said.
The minister said the government was working with industry and patient groups to speed up access to new medicines while ensuring the PBS remained sustainable.
“We’d like to see it happen more quickly and we’re doing a lot of work with industry and patient groups on that right now,” he said.
Despite growing concern from patient advocates that Australians are waiting too long for some cutting-edge treatments, Butler said his priority was ensuring patients continued to benefit from the rapid pace of medical innovation.
“I want to make sure that Australians aren’t just reading about that being available in other countries, that they’re confident it’s going to be available here for them or for their loved ones,” he said.
“That’s my commitment as health minister.”
