Jardiance expanded on PBS

As of 1 November, empagliflozin (sold as Jardiance) will be expanded on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), a change expected to benefit more than 65,000 patients.
 
Empagliflozin was first listed on the PBS in 2024, but its expansion will make the treatment more accessible for those living with chronic kidney disease.
 
Without PBS subsidy, patients can pay around $670 per year for treatment.
 
For Peter Brown, who was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease more than two years ago, he believes that ‘for my health and for my wallet, I think this’ll be a good thing’.
 
‘They did tests and eventually they realised that I not only had heart failure, but chronic kidney disease,’ he said.
 
‘I had a lot of treatment over that 12 months – there was a lot of hospital visits and there was a lot of cost involved in being treated.
 
‘This is a drug that, hopefully, I'll be on … because it'll be on the PBS. Because we're on the pension, all the cost of the drugs does add up.’
 
Currently, around 2.7 million Australians are living with signs of kidney disease – around 14.2% of adults compared to 10.8% a decade earlier.
 
With diagnoses rising, Kidney Health Australia CEO Chris Forbes labelled empagliflozin’s expansion as a ‘really important day’ for patients.
 
‘Why is today such an important day? When patients hold my hand and say, “I wish someone had told me, I wish I had have known earlier about chronic kidney disease, I might have done something about it”,’ he said.
 
‘Unfortunately, kidney disease affects some of our most vulnerable Australians, and so having support from government for listing on the PBS of this extension is so critical for patients.
 
‘It's a chance now for them to go to the doctor, be in great hands, get a kidney health check and have the best opportunity to avoid burdensome kidney failure.’
 
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chronic kidney disease Jardiance PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme