2 June 2016 - From June 2005 to June 2014 the annual cost of the PBS rose from $6 billion to $9.15 billion. That is an increase of 52% or a growth rate of nearly 6% each year.

At the same time the Highly Specialised Drugs and Section 100 programs of the PBS, which subsidise the most expensive drugs, increased by 200% or nearly 23% each year. This growth has been largely driven by the arrival of expensive biological therapies, antiviral therapies for HIV and hepatitis C, and a variety of small molecules used to inhibit growth in subsets of various cancers.

In Australia, enzyme replacement therapy for lysosomal storage diseases, funded by the separate Life Saving Drugs Program, can cost more than $200 000 per person, per year, for life. However, this therapy is not funded in New Zealand for Fabry disease, the commonest lysosomal storage disease.

For more details, go to: https://www.nps.org.au/australian-prescriber/articles/the-challenge-of-costly-drugs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=16-06-01&utm_campaign=aus-prescriber