For thousands of Australians living with the incurable bone-marrow cancer Muliple Myeloma, life-prolonging medications are too expensive for many.

A new drug named Pomalyst will be listed this month on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, reducing the cost for patients by thousands of dollars.

The drug is a derivative of Thalidomide, a drug that caused thousands of birth defects in the 1950s and 1960s, but is now being used as a cancer treatment drug.

Previously Pomalyst cost thousands of dollars for each dose, but now the drug will be available for less than $50.

There are currently 1200 Australians diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma each year, an incurable disease often leaving sufferers in a great deal of pain.

Multiple Myeloma is characterised by an accumulation of abnormal plasma cells in the bone-marrow which can cause; bone damage, nerve damage, renal impairment and immune deficiencies.

Haematologist at Melbourne's Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, Professor Miles Prince, says Pomalyst is not a cure and not suitable for all Myeloma sufferers, but he considers the drug a game-changer for some patients.

For more details, go to: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/08/06/new-drug-listed-pbs-help-australians-bone-marrow-cancer