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‘Unprecedented’ demand on PBAC forces extra meeting


Michelle Wisbey


6/11/2024 2:07:03 PM

Its capacity has been exceeded by a ‘huge pipeline of new medicines’, after companies put forward a record number of submissions.

Pills in blister pack.
The May meeting will consider submissions deferred from the March meeting, ensuring all are evaluated.

An additional meeting of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has been scheduled for next year, as it struggles to keep up with an ‘unprecedented’ number of submissions.
 
Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler announced on Wednesday that the extra meeting would take place in May next year, in addition to the committee’s regular March meeting.
 
The decision comes after pharmaceutical companies planned to bring forward more than 50 major submissions for consideration at the March PBAC meeting.
 
‘This is an unprecedented number and exceeds both the current capacity of the contracted Health Technology Assessment (HTA) workforce for evaluation, and the number the PBAC can consider in one meeting,’ PBAC said.
 
‘The Department does not control the number of submissions brought forward by sponsoring pharmaceutical companies and on very rare occasions, a handful in the past 10 years, the number has exceeded evaluation capacity.’
 
It said the number of submissions requiring clinical and economic evaluation expected ‘significantly exceeds the capacity available to undertake the technical evaluations necessary’.
 
As announced by Minister Butler, the regular March meeting will consider the submissions most likely to benefit patients and improve the standard of care in Australia.
 
While the May meeting will consider submissions from pharmaceutical companies deferred from March, ensuring all are evaluated and considered.
 
‘The Government continues to list medicines at the earliest opportunity once recommended by the PBAC and all relevant listing requirements have been met by the sponsor,’ Minister Butler said.
 
‘There is a huge pipeline of new medicines and treatments coming and that is why our Government undertook the HTA Review.’
 
The HTA Review was handed down earlier this month, making a suite of recommendations to policies and methods, funding and approval pathways, and health technologies.
 
Its final report found 90% of worthy products could be listed on the PBS within six months of Therapeutic Goods Administration registration, compared to the current timeframe of 22 months.
 
In response, the review called for approvals for medicines and vaccines to be quicker and for the approval and product registration processes to be undertaken simultaneously to save time.
 
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Mark Butler PBAC Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme


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