Announcement by Astra Zeneca and US President Trump
The pharmaceutical industry is conducting one to one negotiations between President Trump and company heads, to respond to the letters the President sent to several CEOs. The US administration’s objective is for Americans to pay less for their medicines. This announcement is the next and represents a growing trend.
Medicines Australia believes President Trump will shortly turn his attention back to pharmaceutical prices being paid by other countries around the world – through his Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Executive Order – and Australia will again be in the spotlight.
We are already seeing this Order impacting companies with a slow-down in new medicines coming to Australia. Our members are advising us there is significant scrutiny over launches by their international headquarters. They are choosing not to launch or delay launches.
Currently only one in four (27 per cent) of globally supplied new medicines are listed on the PBS or Life Saving Drugs Program. Patients also wait, on average, 466 days between registration of the new medicine in Australia by the TGA and PBS listing.
We must ensure Australian patients are front and centre and have access to the same innovative medicines and level of care given around the world. Investment in new medicines provided on the PBS is declining. It has also been 30 years since the program was reviewed, while medicines and health technologies have advanced significantly.
We must move quickly now on:
1) Increasing investment in innovative medicines provided by the PBS – additional investment is essential to ensure Australians continue to access new medicines.
– Net spend on innovative medicines, as a share of GDP, is low in Australia compared to other like countries (Australia: 0.26%, UK 0.28%, France 0.29%, Canada 0.32%, Germany 0.36%, Japan: 0.4%, Italy 0.46%, Spain 0.53%).
– Net PBS spend has declined relative to the health budget over the last decade (14 per cent down to 12 per cent).
2) Commencing urgent reform to the HTA (Health Technology Assessment) – to ensure medicines are more appropriately valued, making Australia more attractive for launches.
– The Government must implement reforms to the comparator selection – so the main comparator is the therapy doctors would replace with the proposed new medicine. Fixing this and lowering the discount rate can be done with the stroke of a pen.
Urgent HTA reform, plus increased investment in the PBS, will demonstrate local action is underway and address some of the issues raised by the US administration. It will also improve recognition of the value in innovation of medicines and improve time to access.
For the patient community, their families and healthcare professionals, there is no time to wait. We must get on with action now.
Media enquiries to: Anne-Marie Sparrow, Medicines Australia /Cube – media@medicinesaustralia.com.au or 0417 421 560
About Medicines Australia
Medicines Australia leads the research-based pharmaceutical industry of Australia. Our members discover, develop and manufacture the medicines that are the foundation of a healthy and prosperous society, including prescription pharmaceutical products, biotherapeutic products and vaccines. Our members invest in Australian medical research and take local discoveries and developments to the world.