The Commonwealth Government will invest $57 million to list breakthrough melanoma drug Keytruda on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

This will improve quality of life for 1,100 Australian patients and make the $150,000 per year treatment affordable.

The listing follows passage of the Government’s PBS reform package through the Senate last week and delivers on our promise to list new medicines as quickly as possible.

It complements $1.3 billion from the 2015/16 Budget for other melanoma medicines as well as drugs to treat breast cancer, blindness and shingles.

Treatment using pembrolizumab (Keytruda) currently costs patients with metastatic melanoma up to $156,130 per year without taxpayer subsidy through the PBS.

Patients will now pay $6.10 if they are concessional patients or $37.70 for general patients.

Since coming to office, the Commonwealth has now approved 667 new and amended listings to the PBS, with a benefit of almost $3 billion to Australian patients.

For more details, go to: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/health-mediarel-yr2014-ley081.htm