First medicinal cannabis drug listed on the Australian Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme

General 1 min
May 6, 2021

On 1 May 2021 Epidyolex, the first medicinal cannabis drug product was listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The costs of drug products listed on the PBS are subsidised by the Australian Government.

Epidyolex is used in combination with at least two other anti-epileptic medicines to treat Dravet syndrome – a genetic epileptic disease that gives rise to seizures that doesn’t respond well to standard medications.

While Epidyolex is the second medicinal cannabis drug registered for supply in Australia, it is the first to be listed on the PBS. Around 116 patients will benefit from this listing. Previously, they would have had to pay more than AUD24,000 per year for treatment but will now pay only AUD41.30 per script or AUD6.60 if they have a concession card.

This listing is a pivotal development, allowing greater access to medicinal cannabis drug products in Australia.

Written by
Shehana Wijesana
Shehana Wijesana
As Counsel in our Intellectual Property Group in Sydney, I advise our clients on all aspects of IP strategies, protection, exploitation and enforcement. I enjoy assisting clients with developing, protecting and enforcing their valuable IP rights. The key sectors of interest for me are life sciences, education and retail and consumer industries. All three present an abundance of differing IP issues from development, to commercialisation to enforcement. I find true satisfaction in helping clients reach commercial conclusions to their IP disputes and to me this is one of the key service offerings we can provide our clients.

Related articles

Bird & Bird secures win in preliminary injunction patent case before the Düsseldorf Courts
On September 26, 2019, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf confirmed on appeal that Teva Pharmaceutical...
Spanish courts say “no” to the evergreening on data exclusivity of medicines.
Three recent judgments handed down by the Central Administrative Courts Nos. 4, 10 and 2 on 30 March,...
Artificial Intelligence Systems for Medical Diagnosis
The Italian Ministry of Health has published a document on its website entitled “Artificial Intelligence...
Cookie consent
We use analytics cookies to help us understand if our website is working well and to learn what content is most useful to visitors. We also use some cookies which are essential to make our website work. You can accept or reject our analytic cookies (including the collection of associated data) and change your mind at any time. Find out more in our Cookie Notice.