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Australia Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report Q2 2008
Business Monitor International, May 2008, Pages: 88
The Australia Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Report provides independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Australias pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry.
In recognition of its status as one of the leading pharmaceutical markets in the Asia Pacific region, Australia occupies pole position in BMI.s Business Environment Ranking table for Q208. Positives include high per capita spending, advanced healthcare infrastructure and a government stance generally supportive of multinationals. To this end, in January 2008, state-run Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing included an extended indication of Eli Lilly.s Alimta (pemetrexed) in combination with cisplatin, which is expected to cost AUD26mn between 2007/08 and 2010/11, based on its use by about 300 patients per year. The PBS also added Pfizer.s smoking cessation remedy Champix (varenicline), which is expected to cost AUD76mn over the next four years.
The support for research-based industry has recently been further improved by the creation of two separate formularies under the one for patented medicines and the other one for generics, which are not cross-linked for pricing purposes. This division is created specifically to protect patented medications from price reduction activated by the entry of a generic version of different drug for the same condition.
The changes will also absorb a negative fall-out for the patented sector from the trend of falling number of prescriptions being written by Australian doctors. On the other hand, generics will suffer a further price reduction, in addition to the mandatory12.5% reduction already imposed at the time of PBS listing of the first generic brand of a drug, which has been in place since 2005. Consequently, many more generics will be priced at below the patient co-payment level, with the government having to step in to compensate pharmacists and wholesalers. From the start of August 2008 pharmacists are to receive AUD1.50 each time they dispense a substitutable brand that costs the patient no more than the co-payment.
In the meantime, the Australian industry is also increasingly focusing on research and development (R&D), especially in the area of biotechnology. According to the figures released in February 2008 as part of the Innovation Dynamics, Australia New Zealand (ANZ) Drug Pipeline database, Australian biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have over 450 drugs in clinical development, which is 8% in relation to the previous year. The most significant change was in the largest therapeutic field, oncology, followed by neurology and analgesia.
Similarly, public attitudes towards biotechnology are also improving. The results of a survey published in August 2007 found that the support for using gene technology to produce medicines rose from 65 to 89% since 2005, while the acceptability of using stem cells to conduct medical research and treat disease rose from 80 to 92%, among other beliefs. However, the findings also showed that the population lacked a clear understanding of the quality of regulation of biotechnologies in Australia.
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