Erbitux and Gilenya added to Australia's PBS listing

More than 400,000 Australians will benefit from new subsidized medicines, effective September 1, as Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon announced that German drug major Merck KGaA’s cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) and Swiss major Novartis’ new multiple sclerosis treatment Gilenya (fingolimod) have been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Ms Roxon explained that the A$200 million ($210.6 million) announcement includes the expansion of the listing of cetuximab to include the treatment of patients with late stage bowel cancer. The listing will assist around 2,700 patients per year who would otherwise have to pay up to A$30,000 a year for treatment, she noted.

“Today’s listing of Erbitux onto the PBS is great news for patients suffering late stage bowel cancer,” Minister Roxon said, adding: “The listing of Erbitux was complex given that it is the first time any government has listed a medicine on the PBS while also attempting to list a co-dependent genetic test on Medicare.”