GBMA promotes prescribing shake-up to widen access and deliver savings

What is the point of biosimilars and the promise of lower prices if the only beneficiary is the government's economic interest? Oh wait. The government's economic interest is the only consideration in Australia's HTA system.

Australia exports around $1.7 billion in pharmaceutical products to the US, around 40 per cent of the total. Blood products dominate Australia's pharmaceutical exports to the US.

The company recently announced the introduction of same-day pharmacy delivery in Sydney through its Leafio brand and a newly formed strategic distribution partnership with one of Australia’s biggest pharmacy networks.

Australian pharmaceutical manufacturing company IDT Australia has reported an 83 per cent increase in revenue for the first half of the financial year 2025.

The US FDA has granted fast-track designation for Neuren's NNZ-2591 for the treatment of Pitt Hopkins syndrome. 

Pfizer is partnering with the mobile health service Heart of Australia to expand its GP Education Program to rural and remote areas.

Initially introduced in 1977, the Act has been a significant consideration for the global operations of all companies with a US presence since 1998, when amendments expanded the law to include some non-US entities and citizens.

Australian company Pharmx Technologies has confirmed a strategic partnership with Toniq, the leading pharmacy point-of-sale provider and dispensary software solutions in New Zealand.

CEO Gary Phillips said, "These new findings significantly enhance our understanding of scarring and the impact of topical pan-LOX inhibitors."

The Pharmacy Guild has launched a pre-election push for additional reform of PBS co-payments as doctors and patients continue to shun 60-day quantities.

Matt Zeller, the country president of Novartis Australia and New Zealand, said, “We are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with research institutions to push the boundaries of medical science."

The development of AXA-042 is based on vaccine adjuvant research from the laboratory of Professor David Jackson at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne.

"We’re urging everyone to get involved," said Tanya Hall, the CEO and founder of Hearts4heart. "Attend a screening, learn about the symptoms and advocate for better health policies. Together, we can change the course of heart valve disease care.”

The ban will not prevent life insurers from using family medical history in underwriting. It will simply prohibit them from using adverse genetic tests to obtain much of the information they already have through very intrusive questions in the existing underwriting process.

The biopharmaceutical industry remains silent but will be nervous following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation as the 26th Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

A major structural shift in the PBS with the government moving to break a long-held article of faith. Why can't we debate HTA using some plain language and straight talking? Research grants about patients that patients can't apply for, pathology pushing for more funding, essential questions for our public health system, and a bad memory of Valentine's Day.

“One of the big items in relation to impact and long term sustainability is the amount of time we all put into submissions into the PBAC, senate enquiries, road maps and so on," said Kate Holliday, chief nurse of NPON and the Centre for Community-Driven Research.

AstraZeneca has taken the lead in this year's Rare Cancers Australia Kosi Challenge 'Pharma Cup' with less than four weeks to go.

Unfortunately, dying and suffering are not unintended consequences of Australia’s HTA decision-making. They are an accepted consequence of the framework and accountabilities imposed on the institution.