PBS reform failure – GMiA
May 22, 2013
The Generic Medicines
Industry Association says that the
government’s PBS reforms have
failed on a number of key measures
- and in particular have not made
medicines more affordable for the
majority of users of the scheme.
A statement issued earlier this
week by GMiA ceo Kate Lynch says
that through the process the cost of
medicines for concession patients
has remained unchanged, despite
these people utilising 80% of the
volume of PBS medicines.
Moreover, with $1.2 billion in
medicines coming off patent last
year, 2012 “should have been a
year or growth for the generic
medicines sector,” Lynch said - but
in fact sales in generics actually
declined over this period.
She said Mon’s Medicines
Australia report by the Centre for
Strategic Economic Studies was
helpful in confirming that the
reforms are delivering significant
savings to the PBS.
However the analysis “does not
consider the medium term impact
of competition in the generic
medicines sector, the consequences
for the future viability of the
generic medicines sector, and the
sector’s ongoing ability to deliver
medicines to patients”.
Lynch said the report also fails
to appreciate that suppliers of
generics are totally reliant on sales
in the off-patent market, unlike
suppliers of originator brands
whose key profitability is derived
from patented medicines.
She said that while the savings
are good news for the govt in the
short term, the consequences of
“reaping such significant sums of
money from the generic medicines
industry” may impact on the
ongoing supply of generics.
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