Kesimpta: Game changing multiple sclerosis drug now on PBS

A new drug that promises to change the lives of thousands of Australians living with multiple sclerosis has been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Thousands of Australians living with multiple sclerosis will have access to a “life-changing” treatment option once only available in hospital, with a new drug added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Listing of the drug, known as Kesimpta, is expected to save a multiple sclerosis patient up to $28,000 a year and is the only B-cell therapy that can be self-administered at home instead of through a transfusion.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that causes the immune system to attack the central nervous system, causing messages that travel along the nerves to be blocked or distorted.

More than 25,600 Australians including nearly 4000 Queenslanders live with MS with people usually diagnosed between the age of 20 and 40.

Women are three times more likely to have MS than men.

There is no cure yet for MS, with treatments on the market working to manage symptoms or slow progression of the disease.

This includes using B-cell therapies, like Kesimpta, which help to suppress the immune impacts making MS worse.

Those treatments are usually available in hospital or infusion treatment centres whereas Kesimpta is a monthly self-administered injection — an important option considering Covid-19 shutdowns.

Ipswich’s Renee Heaton lives with multiple sclerosis and will benefit from Kesimpta being listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. Picture: Tara Croser

MS Australia chief executive Rohan Greenland said having more options to treat the disease on the PBS was needed as multiple sclerosis was “unpredictable” and each patient may respond better to certain combinations of drugs.

“We’ve got 16 disease-modifying therapies listed on the PBS now and this is important, because it is life changing medications,” he said.

For Renee Heaton, of Ipswich, the listing of Kesimpta means no longer having to worry about taking a daily pill or losing time by having to go to a hospital for a transfusion.

Ms Heaton said her diagnosis in 2019 was “devastating” as there was still a lot that is unknown about MS, including what causes it.

“Everyone’s symptoms are different … a lot of (managing MS) is trial and error,” she said.

Mr Greenland said the “great challenge” was discovering how to repair the damage that MS does on the insulating layer of nerves, known as myelin sheaths.

Other drugs being listed on the PBS from October 1 include Pomalyst, a treatment for a type of cancer known as multiple myeloma, which would otherwise cost $72,600 per course of treatment.

The drug Beovu used to treat macular degeneration, and Ikervis for the treatment of severe keratitis with dry eye disease will also be listed on the PBS.