CDK Inhibitors approved by PBAC 20 April 2018

Hello all,

Here is the response from our policy team.

Thanks for your comments and questions about CDK inhibitor drugs.

The proposed listing of the CDK inhibitors on the PBS is only for first line treatment at this time. BCNA is continuing to advocate for these drugs to be made available at a reasonable price for all who need it, including those who are using them, or might benefit from them, as a later line treatment. However @wendy55, it is a great idea to speak with your oncologist about what options are open to you.

@leapfrog, the Ibrance (palbociclib) access program currently offered by Pfizer means that eligible women will be able to access Ibrance for a one-off cost of $50, paid at the pharmacy when the first script is filled. All scripts after that will be filled free of charge. Eligibility for the program will be similar to the proposed PBS listing – that is for people newly diagnosed with hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, as a combination treatment with an aromatase inhibitor (anastrazole or letrizole).

The government and the pharmaceutical companies are currently in negotiations on the cost of the drugs. It is a good idea to keep an eye on the BCNA website for updates – we will be posting there once we have an update.

Some more information about the access programs is available on our website: https://www.bcna.org.au/news/2018/03/cdk-inhibitor-update/ . For more specific information, it is best to talk to your medical oncologist.