Iclusig now available under Australian PBS for chronic myeloid leukemia

Australia is now offering Iclusig (ponatinib) for chronic myeloid leukemia from biopharma company Specialised Therapeutics Australia under license from Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARIA) as part of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Iclusig, which is registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration, is a new treatment option for adult patients with chronic phase, accelerated phase or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia whose disease is resistant to, or who are intolerant of, at least two prior tyrosine kinase inhibitors, or where there is a T315I mutation. It is also available for patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia whose disease is resistant to, or who are intolerant of, dasatinib, and for whom subsequent treatment with imatinib is not clinically appropriate, or where there is a T315I mutation.

Carlo Montagner, chief executive of Specialised Therapeutics Australia, said: “We are very pleased that Australian patients with resistant disease will now have equitable access to Iclusig which has been shown to deliver deep and durable responses.”