Companies repay 1-in-5 PBS dollars

“This is an important step forward for patients and we are working to ensure access to this new treatment regimen on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at the earliest opportunity,” said AbbVie general manager Kirsten O’Doherty.

The outgoing chair of CSL says the company is unlikely to undertake a share split given the cost and uncertain benefit.

This return to growth meant net spending on the PBS in 2017-18 was higher than it is budgeted to be in 2021-22. This is a massive problem for the sector because it means the limited growth over the next four years that was allocated in the 2018-19 Budget is already gone.

“Most importantly our culture and flexible work conditions are role modelled from the top, so employees feel supported in making the most of what AbbVie has to offer,” said Sue Jennings, HR director of AbbVie Australia and New Zealand.

Lundbeck has now settled with three of the four generic companies who it is alleged infringed the patent on anti-depressant LEXAPRO (escitalopram).

Rebates fell by $1 billion but net spending on the PBS rose in 2017-8 as the auditor-general again expressed concern over the administration of risk share agreements.

According to the report from Deloitte Access Economics, which was commissioned by Novartis, the annual cost of the debilitating neurological condition that impacts 4.9 million Australians will reach $35.7 billion in 2018.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced the appointment of its new general manager for Australia and New Zealand.

Labor has introduced a bill to parliament it says is designed to provide safeguards against a government negotiating changes to a range of programs and policies, including the PBS, as part of a future trade agreement.

The 2017-18 annual report of the Department of Human Services has revealed a significant improvement in the speed of answering calls for PBS telephone authorities.

More speakers are in the process of being confirmed and over 80 people have already registered for the conference.

"Stigma is really tough to overcome but I can't really argue for an end to it if I'm unwilling to share my own experience," Lilly's Libby Driscoll told PharrmaDispatch.

Sandoz has become the fourth company to enter an agreement with AbbVie that appears to block the launch of any HUMIRA (adalimumab) biosimilars in Australia for an undisclosed period.

Health minister Greg Hunt is acting to ensure rapid patient access to the new generation CAR-T therapies once they are approved and recommended for funding.

A second company has settled its compensation case with the Commonwealth over damages relating to the launch of generic medicines.