Six winners snag Oct PBS listings

The second month of Spring ushered in six new PBS listings with Novartis scoring victory for two of its treatments.

Lucentis, for the  treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) without diabetic macular oedema will be available from this month. Health Minister Mark Butler said around 500 patients are expected to benefit from the listing, each saving more than $9000 for a year's treatment.

In addition Novartis combo Tafinlar with Mekinist has been expanded to include adult patients with BRAF V600E mutation positive advanced or metastatic (Stage IV) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).