The federal health minister, Mark Butler, said last month drugs pricing was in an enormous state of flux amid US policy changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndivior intends to work with the appropriate authorities and experts in Australia to ensure an orderly transition that minimises disruption,\u201d the spokesperson told Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n Sublocade was added to the PBSin 2020 and was considered a significant advance in treatment for people living with opioid dependency because other treatments, such as methadone and buprenorphine, require daily or frequent visits to a pharmacy.<\/p>\n Sublocade is a long-acting, monthly injection administered at a pharmacy or GP clinic. While there is an alternative monthly injection called Buvidal available through the PBS, Melbourne GP Dr Owen Harris said \u201cin my experience, and in the experience of many others, the Sublocade product is just much better for some people\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more stable, it lasts longer, people feel better on it, and it really has been life-changing for them. Some people can stretch their dose out to once every six weeks, or even longer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt, quite honestly, has been life-saving and life-changing for many of my patients.\u201d<\/p>\n A federal health department spokesperson said \u201cany proposed discontinuation of a medicine can cause concern for patients and clinicians\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMaintaining access to safe, effective and affordable medicines remains a priority,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThese are commercial decisions made by private companies, and the Australian government cannot compel a company to continue supply.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Chaos across the industry\u2019<\/p>\n Butler said last month policies such as the US \u201cmost favoured nations\u201d approach \u201care reshaping how companies think about pricing\u201d.<\/p>\n Part of the argument for the policy is that the US should pay the same price as \u201creference countries<\/a>\u201d, with Donald Trump arguing that pharmaceutical companies have been discounting drugs to get into foreign markets such as Australia, and subsidising those cheaper medicines by charging more in the US.<\/p>\n Critics of the US policy say pharmaceutical companies will not compromise their profits in the US, and will either raise their prices in smaller markets so the US has to pay the same, or pull out of those smaller markets altogether if higher prices are not agreed to by governments.<\/p>\n An adjunct professor at the University of Sydney\u2019s pharmacy school, Brendan Shaw, said pharmaceutical companies were increasingly examining the impact on global markets when they agreed to supply cheaper medicines to Australia under the PBS.<\/p>\n
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