Australians with asthma and multiple myeloma will have broader access to life changing medicines as a result of expanded medicines listings on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 June 2020.
\nThe listing of Symbicort\u00ae (containing budesonide and formoterol) will now be available at PBS prices for adolescent and adult patients with mild asthma.
\nSymbicort will be available in two strengths of inhaler, Symbicort Turbuhaler\u00ae 200\/6, and Symbicort Rapihaler\u00ae 100\/3.
\nAsthma is a common chronic condition, and can become serious, especially if untreated. Almost 400 Australians die from asthma each year.
\nThis medicine has previously been available for patients with more severe forms of asthma.
\nThis expanded listing is estimated to provide new treatment options for over 170,000 patients with milder forms of asthma each year.
\nPatients would pay around $137 per year without subsidised access through the PBS. They will now pay as little as $6.60 per script with a concession card.
\nPatients with more severe forms of asthma will also benefit from the listing of a new pre-filled self-administered autoinjector pen, from 1 June.
\nThe Nucala\u00ae pre-filled pen will be an important new treatment option for patients suffering from severe eosinophilic asthma, allowing them to self-administer their treatment at home avoiding the need to travel or attend a clinic to receive their monthly treatment.
\nOver 1,400 patients per year access Nucala\u00ae through the PBS and may benefit from the listing of Nucala\u00ae pre-filled pen. Without subsidy they would pay over $20,000 per year for treatment.
\nThe listing of Revlimid\u00ae (lenalidomide) on the PBS Highly Specialised Drugs Program will also be expanded, to allow use in combination with Velcade\u00ae (bortezomib) and dexamethasone for previously untreated multiple myeloma.
\nMultiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that develops from plasma cells in the bone marrow.
\nIt is estimated up to 2,300 patients may benefit from this listing each year, which might otherwise cost more than $64,000 per course of treatment.
\nAdditionally, new PBS listings are being introduced for smaller maximum quantities of medicines for the treatment of short-term acute pain following surgery or injury.
\nThe revised listings form part of a broader suite of measures to support appropriate use of opioids. These include education and awareness campaigns, changes to clinical guidelines and a national real-time prescription monitoring system.
\nSince 2013, the Australian Government has approved more than 2,350 new or amended listings on the PBS.
\nThis represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month \u2013 or one each day \u2013 at an overall investment by the Government of $11.5 billion.
\nThe Government\u2019s commitment to ensuring that Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, remains rock solid.
\nAll new medicines listings on the PBS are about saving and protecting lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australians with asthma and multiple myeloma will have broader access to life changing medicines as a result of expanded medicines listings on Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 June 2020. The listing of Symbicort\u00ae (containing budesonide and formoterol) will now be available at PBS prices for adolescent and adult patients with mild asthma. Symbicort will … Continue reading “Expanded PBS medicines listings to provide new treatment options for over 170,000 asthmatics, and new hope for blood cancer patients”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}