'MyBioPharmaSpace'

There are enough measures and signals in this week's Budget to suggest medicines, vaccines and other technologies were discussed extensively in the process leading up to Tuesday's announcement. It might also help explain Health Minister Mark Butler's annoyance at one organisation's response. A Government response to a parliamentary inquiry triggered another odd response from stakeholder groups.

“The message from the public is clear, New Zealanders do not think we are doing enough to improve our medicines access, and they want that to change,” said Dr Graeme Jarvis, CEO of Medicines New Zealand.

AusBiotech says the 2026-27 Federal Budget sends strong signals that the Government has listened to its advocacy, but the peak life sciences body is urging careful scrutiny of the tax changes to understand their true impact.

Health Minister Mark Butler’s speeches this week to events hosted by Medicines Australia and the Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association flung open the door to a negotiation environment that the government has clearly been preparing for in secret.

Health Minister Mark Butler has explicitly linked the negotiation of new industry agreements with the implementation of outcomes of the Health Technology Assessment Review.

Gareth Richmond, Business Unit Leader for Cardiometabolic Health at Eli Lilly Australia and New Zealand, said the study answers an important question about what happens to body weight over time once initial treatment-related weight loss has been achieved.

CEO Nikki Lorenz said the Budget provides a strong platform to build on, particularly as Australia looks to balance access with long-term supply security.

There is no shortage of reasons to challenge the minister over his handling of the HTA Review. Yet, nobody would argue it is in any way inconsistent with his predecessors. In fairness to Mr Butler, he has been very transparent about his actions.

Advocates for people living with diabetes expressed disappointment after the 2026–27 Federal Budget made no new commitments to improving care for the condition that affects millions of Australians.

The forum convened CEOs, general managers and directors of operations to focus on building capability, resilience and collaboration across the onshore medical manufacturing ecosystem.

The forecast for spending on pharmaceutical benefits in 2025-26, which is just 8 weeks from finalisation, is $5.6 billion higher than it was four years ago, assuming most of that growth will be offset by rebates. This is not to defend the status quo but to encourage accuracy.

The new investment will fund free comprehensive genomic profiling of tumour DNA for Australians with advanced or incurable cancers and support matching to advanced treatments and clinical trials.