Australia's PBS adds batch of new generation medicines

Three new cancer drugs have been approved for inclusion in the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which will cost the Australian government more than A$430 million ($396.2million) over four years.

Firstly, Australia’s Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek said the inclusion of Yervoy (ipilimumab), made by US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), on the PBS would save skin cancer patients more than A$110,000 a year on average.

Ms Plibersek said Australia has the highest skin cancer incidence rate in the world, with one in 17 Australians at risk of contracting the disease, and added: “While prevention is always the best option, the PBS listing of ipilimumab is a major step forward for people who have developed malignant melanoma. It is the first in a new class of medicines for melanoma and the first effective treatment in over a decade.”