Medicines Australia campaign to end long wait for new drugs

A peak body has warned Australia is becoming the world’s biggest waiting room when it comes to new medicines, with it taking almost 470 days from when a new drug is approved to when it is available on the PBS.

Australians are being urged to support a new campaign to slash the long wait times to access affordable new drugs by a staggering 87 per cent.

On average it takes 466 days from when a new medicine is declared safe and effective by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to when it is made available – and affordable – on the government-subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The campaign wants this reduced to 60 days.

It was launched on Wednesday by Medicines Australia whose members are from the research-based pharmaceutical industry.

CEO Liz de Somer warned the delays in accessing medicines were too long and people were dying waiting.

Medicines Australia CEO Liz de Somer said people were dying because of delays in accessing medicines.

“Hundreds of thousands of Australians were missing out on access to the best medicine available for their condition and their circumstances because they aren’t available on the PBS,” Ms de Somer said.

The peak body said it launched the campaign because Australia was becoming the world’s biggest waiting room when it came to accessing new medicines to treat everything from high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol to Alzheimer’s and ovarian and breast cancer.

One extreme example of a drug caught in limbo was Olaparib prescribed for a type of ovarian cancer that took a staggering 1027 days to be listed on the PBS.

“The way in which medicines are assessed for inclusion on the PBS has not kept pace with advances in research and innovation,” Ms de Somer said.

The campaign is urging Australians to support the push to have the wait times for new drugs listed on the PBS slashed.

The group also commissioned a survey in June that found three in four Australian adults said accessing the best medicine quickly and at an affordable cost was as important as being able to see a GP and access good hospital care.

Approving a new drug in Australia is a complex process that has just been reviewed by the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) for the federal government.

Currently a new drug must be assessed for safety by the Advisory Committee on Prescription Medicines which then reviews it for listing by the TGA. Then a sponsor, usually the drug makers, apply to have it subsidised by the federal government through the PBS.

Last week the federal government released the final report of the HTA.

Describing the review as “visionary”, Health Minister Mark Butler said the goal was to provide faster access to the best medicines and therapies, at a cost that patients and the community can afford.

The wait for new drugs include those for high blood pressure.

“Value for money remains paramount because value is at the heart of patient benefit,” he said.

Mr Butler said good reform must be jointly owned and that landing it will take time and the collective effort of governments, experts, patients and industry.

He said since July 2022 the government had approved extra funding for 235 new and amended listings on the PBS.

The review found the current system overly complex and for many patients, the experience negative.

It made 50 recommendations that will now be considered and implemented by the federal government.

For many, the overhaul can’t come soon enough.

“It makes no sense that people are having to wait to access medicines that have been approved for use, medicines that improve health, reduce hospitalisations and GP visits, enable people to return to work and participate in society,” Ms de Somer said.

She urged people to visit strongerpbs.com.au to pledge support to cut wait times to 60 days.