Medicines Australia rejects latest Grattan report findings

Trade group Medicines Australia does not accept the findings of the latest Grattan Institute report on medicine prices, calling it “inaccurate, selective and misleading.”

According to the report released yesterday (https://grattan.edu.au/report/cutting-a-better-drug-deal/), Australians on average pay five times the best international price for a group of seven commonly prescribed drugs. The price of the cholesterol medicine atorvastatin (Lipitor), the most prescribed drug in Australia, is about 1.5 times the best international price. In Australia, a box of 30 1mg tables of the breast cancer drug anastrozole (Arimidex) costs $19.20. In the UK it is just $2.45.

The report says Australian drug prices remain “unacceptably high,” with some medicines costing 3.7 times more compared with international prices. Even after the next round of drug price cuts, set to occur in April under the “price disclosure” policy, Australia’s prices will still be, on average, 3.7 times higher than the benchmark best price, the report found.