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THE HON NICOLA ROXON MP

Former Minister for Health and Ageing

New Medicines Available Through PBS from 1 December

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Australians suffering from pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, osteoporosis, bipolar disorder, or hepatitis C will be among those to benefit from changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) that come into effect on 1 December.

PDF printable version of New Medicines Available Through PBS from 1 December (PDF 21 KB)

1 December 2010

Australians suffering from pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, osteoporosis, bipolar disorder, or hepatitis C will be among those to benefit from changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) that come into effect today.

Changes to the PBS include:

  • Pancreatic Extract, Granules (enteric coated) (Creon Micro®) is now available to help patients with insufficient pancreatic enzymes to digest food, which can arise from medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.
  • Degarelix, Powder for injection (Firmagon®) is now available as an alternative product for patients with prostate cancer.
  • Denosumab, Injection 60 mg in 1 mL pre-filled syringe (Prolia®) is now available as an alternative injectable, long-duration treatment for osteoporosis. More than 90,000 Australians are expected to use this product.
  • Epoetin Lamda, Injection (Novocrit®) is now available for patients with kidney disease, where the disease causes low iron count. About 12,000 Australians who are undergoing dialysis benefit from drugs to reduce infusion-related anaemia.
  • Ribavirin and peginterferon alfa-2a, (Pegasys RBV®) is now available to treat patients with hepatitis C. Approximately 600 Australians with hepatitis C who have relapsed in spite of treatment will benefit from access to an additional course of ribavirin with peginterferon.
  • Quetiapine, Tablet (Seroquel®) and Quetiapine, Tablet (modified release) (Seroquel XR®) is now available as an additional medicine for the maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder. It is expected that around 1500 Australians will benefit from this listing.
  • Cetrorelix, (Cetrotide®) is now available to provide an alternative therapy to help patients undergoing IVF treatment.
These changes to the PBS were recommended to the Government by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). Other recommendations by PBAC are currently being considered by Government. This process includes pricing negotiations with the manufacturer, finalising the conditions for listing and Cabinet approval.

The 2010-11 Budget provides funding of more than $9 billion to support the PBS. The scheme will subsidise about 200 million prescriptions during the financial year.

Full details of these listing are available from the PBS website.

For all media inquiries, please contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220

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