New and Amended Medicines Listed on PBS

The cost of 50 new and amended medicines and technologies to treat cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and a range of other debilitating diseases have been listed on the PBS and will be subsidised by the government.
“About 230,000 people will now be able to receive new and improved medicines they may otherwise not have been able to afford,”  Federal Minister for Health, the Hon Peter Dutton said.
“The new listings include a ground-breaking treatment for melanoma (skin cancer). Dabrafenib, sold as Rafinlar®, which is the first melanoma medicine that targets a genetic mutation that is present in about half of all melanoma cases.
“A new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item will also be listed for the genetic testing that is necessary to determine eligibility for dabrafenib. This means the costs for both the medicine and the genetic test will be subsidised, and will benefit more than 800 Australians.
“A new medicine to treat pancreatic cancer has also been approved. Sunitinib (Sutent®) will provide an important treatment option for approximately 50 patients with this life-threatening condition. Sunitinib increases the survival rates of patients who cannot undergo surgery.
"Denosumab (Prolia®), which is currently available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the treatment of osteoporosis in women, will also be extended to allow the medicine to be used to treat osteoporosis in men, which will benefit approximately 5,700 patients.”
Mr Dutton said price changes for a number of PBS medicines have also been approved, but patients will still only have to pay $5.90 or no more than $36.10 per prescription to be treated with PBS-listed medicines.
All PBS listings and price changes are subject to final arrangements being met by the suppliers of the medicine. A full list of all of the approved medicines and price changes will be available through the PBS website