Australia's most trusted source of pharma news
Pfizer rebels over Ibrance
Posted 30 August 2018
Pfizer will not pursue PBS listing for its newest cancer drug Ibrance, abandoning negotiations with the health department and instead turning to a capped-price patient access scheme.
Despite securing a positive PBAC recommendation for Ibrance in March, Pfizer told Pharma in Focus negotiations had broken down and it would not pursue the listing.
"Pfizer firmly believes Ibrance is an important treatment option for patients living with metastatic breast cancer," a spokesperson said.
"However, we have serious reservations about the value attributed to Ibrance as part of this PBAC recommendation. As such, Pfizer has decided it will not proceed with listing Ibrance in line with this current PBAC recommendation.
"This has been a deeply difficult decision and not one we have taken lightly."
Pfizer's current assistance program, providing Ibrance to first-line metastatic breast cancer patients, will now finish on 1 October, replaced with a patient access program "for all patients within the TGA approved indication in Australia".
Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) described Pfizer's access scheme as "a step in the right direction" but said the drug would remain out of reach for most of its members.
"BCNA knows that $40,000 is too expensive for many people to be able to afford. We have communicated this concern to Pfizer who has advised it will still consider compassionate access... on a case-by-case basis."
Ibrance class rival, Novartis' Kisqali emerged from PBAC in March with an identical recommendation to Ibrance, the committee calling for "a reduced effective price in conjunction with financial caps" for the pair, labelling them appropriate comparators.
Yet while Kisqali received a super-quick listing, hitting the PBS in July, in the months since, Ibrance has been nowhere to be seen.
Although Pfizer said it would now work directly with prescribing physicians, BCNA said the company had advised that patients would be required to purchase the first eight packs at $4,850 per pack "plus any script fees your pharmacist may charge" before being eligible for free access - an out-of-pocket cost of around $40,000.
"Once you have paid for eight packs, Pfizer will provide palbociclib free of charge for as long as you are clinically benefitting from it," BCNA said.
"Although the official program does not open until 1 October, anyone already paying whose doctor applies to Pfizer will be moved onto the free access program and will not have to wait," the patient group website states.
BCNA said Ibrance could also prescribed in combination with AstraZeneca's Faslodex in the second-line setting, with Faslodex also not on the PBS.
AstraZeneca also had a patient access scheme whereby patients pay for three injections at a total cost of $2,500 with the first, fifth and later doses provided free by the company, it said.
"If you are newly diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, the CDK inhibitor [Kisqali] is available as a first-line treatment through the PBS for the cost of a PBS script fee - $39.50 or $6.40 concession," BCNA advised.
Megan Brodie
Posted 30 August 2018
Pfizer will not pursue PBS listing for its newest cancer drug Ibrance, abandoning negotiations with the health department and instead turning to a capped-price patient access scheme.
Despite securing a positive PBAC recommendation for Ibrance in March, Pfizer told Pharma in Focus negotiations had broken down and it would not pursue the listing.
"Pfizer firmly believes Ibrance is an important treatment option for patients living with metastatic breast cancer," a spokesperson said.
"However, we have serious reservations about the value attributed to Ibrance as part of this PBAC recommendation. As such, Pfizer has decided it will not proceed with listing Ibrance in line with this current PBAC recommendation.
"This has been a deeply difficult decision and not one we have taken lightly."
Pfizer's current assistance program, providing Ibrance to first-line metastatic breast cancer patients, will now finish on 1 October, replaced with a patient access program "for all patients within the TGA approved indication in Australia".
Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) described Pfizer's access scheme as "a step in the right direction" but said the drug would remain out of reach for most of its members.
"BCNA knows that $40,000 is too expensive for many people to be able to afford. We have communicated this concern to Pfizer who has advised it will still consider compassionate access... on a case-by-case basis."
Ibrance class rival, Novartis' Kisqali emerged from PBAC in March with an identical recommendation to Ibrance, the committee calling for "a reduced effective price in conjunction with financial caps" for the pair, labelling them appropriate comparators.
Yet while Kisqali received a super-quick listing, hitting the PBS in July, in the months since, Ibrance has been nowhere to be seen.
Although Pfizer said it would now work directly with prescribing physicians, BCNA said the company had advised that patients would be required to purchase the first eight packs at $4,850 per pack "plus any script fees your pharmacist may charge" before being eligible for free access - an out-of-pocket cost of around $40,000.
"Once you have paid for eight packs, Pfizer will provide palbociclib free of charge for as long as you are clinically benefitting from it," BCNA said.
"Although the official program does not open until 1 October, anyone already paying whose doctor applies to Pfizer will be moved onto the free access program and will not have to wait," the patient group website states.
BCNA said Ibrance could also prescribed in combination with AstraZeneca's Faslodex in the second-line setting, with Faslodex also not on the PBS.
AstraZeneca also had a patient access scheme whereby patients pay for three injections at a total cost of $2,500 with the first, fifth and later doses provided free by the company, it said.
"If you are newly diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, the CDK inhibitor [Kisqali] is available as a first-line treatment through the PBS for the cost of a PBS script fee - $39.50 or $6.40 concession," BCNA advised.
Megan Brodie
Drought, fire and now virus cut chance of PBS relief.
Don't do it for the accolades; do it for your kids.
New forms of rotavirus vaccine Rotarix.