November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and from 1 November, Keytruda® will be listed on the PBS for first-line treatment of people with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
Without PBS subsidy, Keytruda® would cost more than $11,300 per script – or $188,000 a year. Patients will now pay a maximum of $39.50 per script or just $6.40 per script for concessional patients and pensioners.
Keytruda® is an immunotherapy medicine that works with a patient’s own immune system to recognise cancer cells and destroy them. Clinical trials of Keytruda® for lung cancer showed that some patients became virtually cancer free after treatment.
This medicine is already listed on the PBS for classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma and unresectable Stage III or Stage IV malignant melanoma. Now, for the first time, eligible patients with advanced lung cancer can avoid chemotherapy and be treated with this novel immunotherapy treatment Keytruda®. The listing will benefit around 850 Australians a year.
To find out more please see media release