Capacity of Australia's PBS to support new medicines in doubt, says trade group CEO

23 April 2010

A grave risk is emerging that the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will be unable to continue supporting the development of new medicines in the future, pharmaceutical industry trade group Medicines Australia chief executive Brendan Shaw told an industry conference this week.

Speaking at the Future of the PBS Conference in Sydney, Dr Shaw said there was growing industry concern that the pricing decisions being made by governments globally and in Australia will constrain the future development of new medicines.

'In the drive to cut costs and get today's new medicines at cheap prices, governments risk limiting the supply of new technologies in the future for our children and grandchildren,' noted Dr Shaw said, noting that 'It is one of the great intergenerational issues of our age, but one that is not being confronted in Australia at all at the moment.'

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