It's been hailed as a miracle cure for hepatitis C – but comes with a billion-dollar price tag.

The Commonwealth government is under pressure to subsidise Sovaldi, produced by drug company Gilead, that has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration but has been rejected for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on value-for-money grounds.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, the independent expert body that decides which drugs should be subsidised, will consider a second application to list the drug at its March meeting, along with applications to list three other new hepatitis treatments.

The committee rejected the first application to list Sovaldi at its July meeting on the grounds that it was insufficiently cost-effective compared with existing treatments, and the budget impact of listing the drug on the PBS was "high and likely underestimated".

The drug company's asking price was provided to the health department on a confidential basis. But in what may constitute the most expensive proposal for PBS listing in history, the department has revealed that the total cost of listing the drug at the price asked by Gilead exceeded $1 billion over five years.

The total cost of the PBS this financial year is expected to be $9.25 billion. The department said Sovaldi's cost per person was "significantly higher" than the cost of treatments now available under the PBS. The listed drugs Incivo and Victrelis cost the PBS $44 million in the past financial year, while combination interferon and ribavirin therapy cost about $29 million. A course of treatment using these drugs cost about $45,000, the department said.

For more details, go to: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-miracle-cure-with-a-billiondollar-price-tag-20150112-12moah.html