Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee
The independent committee that decides which medicines Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidises, and at what price, on cost-effectiveness evidence.
The PBAC is an independent expert body appointed by the Australian Government under the National Health Act 1953; no new medicine can be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme without a positive PBAC recommendation. It assesses comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, publishes Public Summary Documents for every decision, and negotiates risk-sharing and managed-access arrangements for expensive cancer drugs with uncertain evidence. The PBS is one of the oldest universal medicines subsidy schemes and its rejections and deferrals of high-cost oncology drugs are closely watched by companies and patient groups. Registration by the TGA must precede or run in parallel with PBAC consideration.
- PBS listing recommendations
- Public Summary Documents
- Managed access and risk-sharing arrangements
- Parallel TGA-PBAC process