Industry criticises “politicisation” of drug reimbursement decisions in Australia
This article was originally published in SRA
Executive Summary
Pharmaceutical companies are warning the Australian government about the potential consequences of a recent policy change that they believe is resulting in the government delaying indefinitely the final decision on whether drugs should be reimbursed under the country's state-funded pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Jamie Nicholson, spokesperson for the industry association Medicines Australia, said that he was "aware of at least a couple of companies who have hit the pause button in terms of bringing new medicines to Australia until the policy outlook becomes clearer"1.