23 August 2019 - The recommendations from the July 2019 PBAC meeting are now available.

Submissions

• 57 submissions were considered by the PBAC; 55 relate to the listing of a medicine or medicinal preparation on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; the remaining two submissions relates to the listing of a vaccine on the National Immunisation Program
• 30 (53%) were major submissions
• 40 (69%) were initial submissions and 17 (31%) were resubmissions
• 13 (23%) submissions were for a ‘new (single entity) medicine’
• 20 (35%) submissions were for a cancer medicine
• 12 (21%) submissions included a CEA/CUA. The type of economic evaluation in some submissions is as yet unknown.
• One submission was withdrawn
• The PBAC considered a minor submission that was not included in the published agenda

Outcomes

• The 57 submissions yielded 72 outcomes;40 (56%) recommendations, 23 (33%) rejections & 9 (13%) deferrals. Insofar as some submissions included multiple requests; the number of outcomes exceeds the number of submissions.
• Only 3 (23%) of the 13 submissions for a new medicine were recommended
• The 20 submissions for a cancer medicine yielded 27 outcomes; 14 recommendations, 12 rejections and 1 deferral

Of note

• Two medicines were recommended on the basis of a comparison with a lowest cost alternative
• The PBAC considered six submissions for a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor; only one was recommended (pembrolizumab)
• The PBAC recommended the listing of Eli Lilly’s new calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist galcanezumab (Emgality) after just one submission; Novartis’s CGRP receptor antagonist erenumab (Aimovig) is languishing after two rejections

Read PBAC outcomes