An outcome that might haunt the system's decision-making, like Banquo's ghost

The minister focused on NDIS reform at this week's National Press Club address, suggesting that it is taking up a lot of his time. Implementing the HTA Review will be one side of a two-sided coin. While it might frustrate some, it represents a unique opportunity to secure positive outcomes from an inevitable negotiation.

The long-running debate over how to fund immunotherapies across multiple cancer types has reached another turning point, with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee rejecting one proposal outright and deferring another.

The July meeting delivered a mix of outcomes, but almost every approval came with conditions. From osteoporosis and Crohn’s disease to multiple cancers and rare disorders, PBAC required steep price reductions and risk-sharing arrangements for PBS listing.

AstraZeneca, in collaboration with Macquarie University’s Girls to Graduates program, recently hosted an afternoon event designed to inspire and empower young women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine.

Pharmaceutical companies manage a delicate balance between an instinctive want to ensure patients can access their medicines via the PBS and commercial realities in a system defined by its power asymmetry.

“Assessment timeframes for most categories of medicine are now similar to the timeframes required in Australia. We often use compare ourselves to Australia, and in this area we have caught up,” said Associate Health Minister David Seymour.  

This October, two flagship AusBiotech events will take place during Australia's biggest week in biotech, connecting innovators with investors and industry leaders.

Based on the analysis of its November 2013 meeting, there were no real references to conditions in the economic or pricing sections of the PBAC's Public Summary Documents. At the November 2024 meeting, there were 160.

The HTA Review's final report recommended that consideration be given to allowing the PBAC to conditionalise its recommendations. Why? An analysis reveals the committee is already explicitly conditionalising its recommendations, making them effectively provisional.

Draft guidance from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has proposed a significant shake-up of diabetes treatment, including earlier access to weight loss therapies and broader access to continuous glucose monitoring.

According to the department's spokesperson, "The HTA Implementation Advisory Group is considering the use of AI as part of its advice to government and how it can be leveraged to support Health Technology Assessments in the future."

CSL reported strong profit growth for the past year, but has launched several strategic initiatives, including separating its vaccine business into a standalone company and reducing the number of plasma collection centres in the US.

Brandon BioCatalyst, a collaboration of more than 50 of Australia and New Zealand’s leading medical research institutes, hospitals and universities, today announced new board appointments.

An update on the Government's travel policy! The opportunity of AI, our own journeys, and why it needs to be embraced and not feared, particularly in healthcare. Productivity and the impact of chronic conditions and another example of why it would be better to target support to those most in need. What we are trying to achieve at our AI-focused event in November.

The challenge is that advisory committees have been allowed to move increasingly into what are policy matters historically left to the minister and the parliament. The invitation to respond to the HTA Review was a natural consequence of this increasing role in policy matters. It was a bad idea that put the committees in a difficult position.

Eli Lilly Australia and Monash University have announced a new healthcare initiative aimed at transforming the management of obesity.

Health Minister Mark Butler and his key officials are focused on the potential of artificial intelligence to support decision-making, but New Zealand might currently be ahead.

According to Matt Zeller, the Country President of Novartis Australia and New Zealand, the launch reflects HCPs' calls for easier, faster, and simpler access to Novartis’ portfolio of private prescriptions.

The analysis reveals how the committee's decision-making has evolved over the past decade without any transparent policy framework, industry agreement, or reform of its statutory decision-making framework.