Australian patients should no longer face shortages of life-saving medications, under a new agreement between the federal government and drug companies.

Key points:

  • Drug companies are obligated to have up to six months’ supply of medicines
  • Patients to be invited to appear before the drug subsidy board
  • Some medications will be repurposed for new uses

As part of the five-year agreement, pharmaceutical companies will be required to hold four to six months worth of critical medicines onshore, to protect patients against shortages.

Hundreds of essential medical treatments, from EpiPens to hormone replacement therapy, have been in short supply, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

That has meant Australian doctors and pharmacists have had to find creative ways to manage chronic health conditions.

A spokesman for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the agreement would also see stronger patient voices included in the system that decides subsidies for new medicines.

The pandemic has seen a shortage of many important medicines.(

ABC News: Angela Ross

)

Patients will have the opportunity to speak directly to the members of the committee about their experiences.

Currently, patients can only fill out an online form.

Richard Vines, from Rare Cancers Australia, says giving patients a voice is long overdue.(

Supplied: Richard Vines

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Richard Vines, from Rare Cancers Australia, said having patients appear in person to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee would “make a huge difference”.

“There is a human life at the end of these decisions that needs to be heard,” he said.

In another change, some existing drugs known to work for other conditions will be repurposed for new uses.

Tim Murphy, from the Leukemia Foundation, said the drug repurposing program would offer hope to some patients for whom existing treatments have failed.

The repurposing of drugs could create better outcomes for leukemia patients.(

Reuters

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“We are hoping the new program will be based on the MOST trials from the Garvan Institute,” he said.

In this research, rather than focusing on where a person’s cancer tumour was located, researchers looked for variants in the tumour.

Patients were treated with a drug that targeted the variant.

The agreement will also create a new health technology review, where emerging cell and gene-therapy treatments, medicines for rare diseases and other precision-based medicines, would be evaluated.

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