JANSSEN'S leukaemia and lymphoma breakthrough drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) is to be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), effective Dec this year, at a cost of $460m, slashing the cost of therapy from an average of $187,390 to $38.80 per script.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that this "life-changing treatment" had been beyond the reach of most patients but "that will now all change."
Ibrutinib is indicated for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), the most common form of leukaemia affecting around 1,500 Australians every year, and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) patients who haven't responded to first-line chemotherapy.
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