Asked when private prescribing would move from a specialist concern to an issue voters care about, the Redbridge pollster said it already had. "I think it's already jumped that shark and the political class just haven't realised it," he said.
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Latest News
Cancer physicians now running communication skills workshops on how to discuss private pay
Oncologists have been having these conversations for so long that Private Cancer Physicians of Australia now runs communication skills workshops on discussing high-cost medicines. Every oncologist and haematologist "will have their stories", Steer said, and many patients turn to groups such as Rare Cancers Australia for help raising money.
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Latest News 'If your doctor prescribes it, it should be covered,' pollster recommends as the key message October 19, 2026
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Latest News The committee that rarely fronts is called to answer at Senate Estimates October 19, 2026The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee is listed as a witness in its own right at Senate Estimates, and the scheduling says as much as any question senators will ask.
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Latest News Pharmac funding wins backing across New Zealand's political divide October 19, 2026New Zealand's political parties agree that Pharmac needs more money ahead of the 7 November election, with National promising NZ$604 million, ACT committing to a major multi-year increase, and Labour backing the direction while not yet naming its own figure.
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Latest News Global headwinds and new contenders set the agenda for Australia's 'Biggest Week in Biotech' October 19, 2026As Australia's life sciences sector meets on the Gold Coast this week for the 'Biggest Week in Biotech', the science has rarely looked stronger, while the conditions around it have rarely looked less settled.
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Mixed PBAC outcomes for multi-cancer immunotherapy listings October 19, 2026At its September 2026 meeting, the committee recommended Amgen's IMDELLTRA (tarlatamab) for small-cell lung cancer with conditions and Sanofi's BEYFORTUS (nirsevimab) for the National Immunisation Program. It also recommended wider PBS access to fourteen antidepressants.
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Latest News AI in HTA - survey reveals optimism and concern over a potential missed opportunity October 16, 2026Health technology assessment informs decisions about public funding for new medicines and other health technologies. By the sector's own account, it is also a strong candidate for AI-supported efficiencies.
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Latest News England's chief scientific officer on the opportunity for Australia to get it right on genomics October 15, 2026In a discussion with BioPharmaDispatch, Professor Hill said the starting point was a set of management questions she put to the chief executives of major teaching hospitals. What can you stop doing, how can you re-engineer pathways, and how can you do things earlier?
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Latest News Biogen ANZ certified a 'Great Place to Work' for a fifth time October 16, 2026Biogen's Australian and New Zealand business has been certified as a Great Place to Work for the fifth time. Employees rated the company above the benchmark on most measures of fair treatment at work.
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Latest News Tavneos to be withdrawn from Australia as CSL pulls vasculitis treatment October 16, 2026The withdrawal follows a series of regulatory actions overseas centred on the drug's pivotal ADVOCATE trial and a growing liver-injury safety signal.
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Latest News The effort to change an institution from within, works best when exit is possible October 15, 2026Albert Hirschman argued that voice works only when exit is credible. For 80 years, the pharmaceutical industry has had voice without exit, and the PBS has had little reason to listen. The private market finally gives the industry somewhere else to go. The question is whether it will use it.
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Latest News The medicines gap costing Australian children time they can't get back October 15, 2026Up to 600,000 Australian children live with a rare disease or a profound or severe disability, and for about half of them, there is no approved medicine or therapy in Australia.
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Latest News Brain cancer advocates return to Canberra 'to keep that ambition alive' October 15, 2026A year ago, Professor Richard Scolyer, who was living with glioblastoma, stood in Parliament House in Canberra and urged Australia to do for brain cancer what it had done for advanced melanoma.
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Latest News Until the law changes what the committee is instructed to weigh, these processes will deliver nothing October 14, 2026Parliament briefly debated the legislative framework for PBS decision-making almost 40 years ago. Since then, the system has steadily developed and implemented pricing reforms. There has been little meaningful reform of how medicines are assessed.
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Latest News 'Maximising off patent medicines and why the PBS needs a biosimilar strategy' October 14, 2026Chad Rieger, Head of Medical Affairs and Policy for Australia and New Zealand at Sandoz, argues that Australia needs a deliberate national biosimilar strategy, starting with lower patient copayments, so savings from off-patent biologics can fund broader access and the next generation of medicines.
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Latest News Priceline Pharmacy puts its name on the Diamonds as netball rides record growth October 14, 2026Priceline Pharmacy will be front and centre when the Australian Diamonds take the court in New Zealand on Sunday, after the company was named Principal Partner of one of Australia's most successful women's sporting teams.
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Latest News Peter Mac taps Sydney manufacturer to test its solid tumour CAR T therapy October 14, 2026VVMF chief executive Stephen Thompson said, "We are pleased to be working with Peter Mac to evaluate the manufacturability of this AAV-based candidate and generate the process and analytical data required to inform its future development."
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Latest News GBMA's Nikki Lorenz returns from global generics talks with WHO and WTO October 13, 2026GBMA chief executive Nikki Lorenz, who took on the role in April, joined the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association delegation for meetings with the WHO and the WTO in Geneva.
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Latest News The PBS stands alone as the only major health and disability program going backwards October 13, 2026Since 2022–23, Commonwealth spending per person, adjusted for inflation and population, has risen 9.6 per cent on Medicare, 12.5 per cent on public hospitals, 24.4 per cent on the NDIS and 31.6 per cent on aged care. Net spending per person on the PBS fell 13.1 per cent.
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Latest News AFT reaffirms profit guidance as its R&D pipeline moves toward 2029 launches October 7, 2026New Zealand medicine maker AFT Pharmaceuticals says it remains on track to hit its NZ$300 million revenue target for the 2027 financial year after every division posted double-digit revenue growth in the first half.
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New Stories
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The committee that rarely fronts is called to answer at Senate Estimates
October 19, 2026 - - Latest News -
Cancer physicians now running communication skills workshops on how to discuss private pay
October 19, 2026 - - Latest News -
'If your doctor prescribes it, it should be covered,' pollster recommends as the key message
October 19, 2026 - - Latest News -
Global headwinds and new contenders set the agenda for Australia's 'Biggest Week in Biotech'
October 19, 2026 - - Latest News -
Mixed PBAC outcomes for multi-cancer immunotherapy listings
October 19, 2026 - -
Pharmac funding wins backing across New Zealand's political divide
October 19, 2026 - - Latest News -
Tavneos to be withdrawn from Australia as CSL pulls vasculitis treatment
October 16, 2026 - - Latest News