18 May 2026: New Report: Waitlist for life-saving medicines extends to years for Australian consumers and patients
Australians are increasingly being pushed to the back of the global queue for innovative medicines, with patients now waiting an average of 3.6 years for access to treatments already available overseas.
A new report from Medicines Australia – Access Denied – warns the nation is slipping behind comparable countries as patients wait years for innovative medicines to receive PBS funding as bureaucratic delays balloon, leading some drug innovators to abandon the jurisdiction.
The report, which is the result of consultation with more than 30 of the top global innovative medicine companies, also reveals:
- Only 26 per cent of new medicines available in comparable OECD countries were funded in Australia.
- ‘Failure to list’ is resulting in out-of-pocket costs for nearly one in two Australians, with 43 per cent of Australians prescribed medicines not listed on the PBS.
- There is a ‘chilling effect’ on local access to groundbreaking new medicines with 84 per cent of pharmaceutical companies say Australia is becoming a lower priority launch market.
Access Denied warns Australia’s medicines system and the PBS has failed to keep pace with rapid global changes in how new medicines are developed, funded and launched.
It also warns new US ‘Most Favoured Nation’ pricing policies have reshaped the global medicines market, making countries like Australia less attractive for early medicine launches.
The report highlights several examples where innovative medicines and vaccines available internationally – including an ulcerative colitis drug, meningococcal B vaccine and GLP-1 medicines – have not received listing on the PBS in Australia due to the malfunctioning HTA system leaving patients with costly or no access.
The perfect storm of these two pressures is increasing delays, reducing Australia’s attractiveness as an early launch market, and raising fears patients will increasingly miss out on new treatments altogether.
“The PBS remains one of Australia’s greatest public policy achievements, but the world has changed dramatically since it was designed,” Medicines Australia Chief Executive Officer, Ms de Somer said.
“Parts of the system that once worked well are crumbling under their own growing complexity.”
“At the same time medicines are becoming more targeted, more personalised and more complex, while global competition for investment and access is intensifying.”
“Without reform, Australians risk falling further behind comparable countries in gaining access to the latest treatments.”
A recent Medicines Australia survey found 84 per cent of the companies they represent reported Australia is becoming a lower priority country for launching new medicines. A significant proportion (79%) described their company as ‘very concerned’ about the effects of US policies.
The Chair of Patients Australia Michele Robbins said, “For Australians living with serious, life-threatening or debilitating illness, waiting years for medicines already available overseas is far too long.
“Patients know these treatments exist. They see the stories online, connect through support groups and watch people in other countries gain access while they continue to wait. Some Australians are also now dipping into their life savings, accessing their superannuation, increasing their mortgage or take on debt in the hope of accessing treatment privately.
“We are drifting towards a two-tiered system where access depends on financial means rather than medical need. This is not the Australian way and people are being left behind.”
Other countries are responding to these challenges to protect medicines access for the community. As part of the US–UK Economic Prosperity Deal, brokered off the back of MFN, the UK committed to doubling spending on new medicines as a share of GDP from 0.3 per cent in 2026 to 0.6 per cent by 2036, with an expected increase in the health budget spend from 10 per cent in 2026 to 12 per cent by 2036.
This increase in spending by the UK can be contrasted to Australia. The recent Budget 2026-27 shows that ongoing investment into the PBS, and health generally, over the forward years is decreasing as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Without an increase in PBS spending as a proportion of GDP, Australia is almost guaranteed to fall even further behind the world when it comes to new medicines.
“It is incredibly difficult to live with a condition knowing that treatments exist overseas but cannot be accessed here in Australia. We see the impact these medicines have on social media and hear how they are changing lives, but we are constantly left waiting,” said Dr Aaron Schokman, Research Fellow at the University of Medicine said.
Owen Smith, General Manager, Australia & New Zealand, Bristol Myers Squibb, said “As the Government has made clear in the Budget last week, politics is about making choices. And when it comes to Medicines Policy, the choice they are making is to deny or delay Australian citizens access to the latest, most valuable medicines. Other countries are making different choices, investing more in new medicines and reforming their systems to keep pace with scientific breakthroughs. That’s a political choice. And we need an urgent public debate about whether it’s the right one for Australia.”
Medicines Australia said the next Strategic Agreement negotiations represented a critical opportunity for government and industry to modernise the PBS and ensure Australians are not left behind as global competition for innovative medicines intensifies.
The Report is available here: https://www.medicinesaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2026/05/20260518-Medicines-Australia-Access-Denied-Report_FINAL.pdf