'Our access. Our medicines. Our vaccines. Our medical technology'

LTR Pharma has taken a major step toward its planned US commercial launch by executing a definitive agreement with Strive Specialties, converting a previously announced binding term sheet into a long-form commercial arrangement for the nationwide supply of its therapy in the United States.

Australian company Actinogen Medical has announced that results from its Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial of XANAMEM (emestedastat) have been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, reporting meaningful antidepressant activity in a population described as difficult to treat.

The system was faster, with shorter listing times and fewer delays, when the advisory committee had no consumer representatives and received no direct patient input. Why? Because the problem is consistently wrongly diagnosed.

Can the government, its officials, and an advisory committee, whose sole responsibility is the public market, realistically expect companies to compromise or risk their larger, more lucrative private markets for a controlled, less commercially attractive public reimbursement? Is our public payer capable of recognising this reality and of compromise?

Anne Harris rose to national prominence in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic as the leader of the company responsible for the most widely used vaccine and an antiviral treatment.

A very busy week with mostly relief for patients accessing PBS-funded multiple sclerosis medicines, but what does it really mean, and what is the opportunity? Reports and their questionable citations. The most cynical use of language in our health system.

Our health technology assessment institution is not into unconditional surrenders. It habitually buys time to consolidate its position with the goal of revisiting the issue. On the issue of multiple sclerosis medicines, this is what victory looks like in a single-payer system.

Australian company Telix Pharmaceuticals has opened a major facility in North Melbourne that brings radiochemistry laboratories, clinical product manufacturing, patient dose administration and imaging together under one roof.

"This work is also personally significant. My family has been directly impacted by prostate cancer — my father lives with the disease, and the future risk to my three sons is very real," said new board member Allison Rossiter.

We can pay for private insurance to ensure choice and timely access to a hospital surgery, but not prescription medicines. How does that make sense, and how is it equitable when the only alternative is paying the entire cost?

Organon and Samsung Bioepis have extended their existing collaboration, under which Organon will commercialise a new biosimilar in Australia.

"We are entering one of the most exciting periods in Australian arthritis research that we have ever seen," said Arthritis Australia CEO Louise Hardy.

As the Australian Government approaches negotiations with Medicines Australia and the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association for new agreements, the organisation says it is not acceptable to exclude patients, as it has in the past.

The minister's reference to the US and broader international pressures belies the reality that the situation currently confronting MS patients relates to the demanded price reduction triggered by Australia's domestic policies.

The Parliamentary Budget Office’s 2026–27 Medium‑Term Budget Outlook paints a cautious picture for health, disability and medicines spending, with doubts over the budgeted savings for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

“This isn't simply a cancer story. It's an equity story,” said Meredith Cummins, CEO of NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia. “Where you live, how far you are from specialist care, and your socioeconomic circumstances are increasingly influencing outcomes for people diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer.”

Thirteen representatives from government, industry, clinical care, research and patient advocacy met to identify practical actions to strengthen Australia’s paediatric oncology clinical trial ecosystem and attract greater investment so children and young people can access innovative therapies.

Sydney-based Viral Vector Manufacturing Facility and Melbourne-headquartered Mirugen have signed a non-exclusive Letter of Intent to evaluate and potentially develop the company's AAV-based gene therapy candidate targeting Retinitis Pigmentosa.

A trip through a US supermarket or large retail outlet often takes you past a bank, an optometrist, a pharmacy, and sometimes insurance counters. These shops in the US are generally larger and configured to offer these multiple services. Australian supermarkets are typically smaller, and recent retail trends indicate they are shrinking further as retailers optimise floor plans for high‑margin groceries. Simply slotting a pharmacy into that footprint is neither straightforward nor, in most cases, practical.