Today in Launceston the Health Minister Mark Butler reiterated that “it's really important that these two drugs (Ocrevus and Kesimpta) stay on the PBS.” MS Australia welcomes Minster Butler’s support.
Read the full transcript: https://bit.ly/4aZ94Qf
JOURNALIST: Can I just chat MS for a second? From my colleagues in Canberra, can you guarantee two MS drugs at the centre of a pricing dispute won't be removed from the PBS, or is that now a real possibility?
BUTLER: I've made my views very clear. These are two drugs that are delivering enormous benefit to many, many patients, many Australians living with multiple sclerosis and have for quite some time.
Like many drugs at the moment, there is a level of dislocation happening because of pricing changes in America in particular, but to a degree in China as well, which has meant that companies are taking a different view about some drugs. But I've said it's really important that these two drugs stay on the PBS. The advisory committee, which is the experts that provide advice and have for many years to government about what drugs are on the PBS, is considering these two drugs at their meeting this week, and I'll wait to hear the outcomes of that.
JOURNALIST: Neurologists are saying these drugs aren't interchangeable in clinical practice. Why is the government treating them as equivalent for pricing purposes?
BUTLER: The government's not. The company and the PBAC, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, are meeting over the course of this week, and that will be the subject of further examination. I've indicated the government’s view. I want to see these drugs kept on the PBS. They’re delivering enormous benefit to patients. But I want to see the outcome of that work over the course of this week.