Australian Minister for Health announced PBS listing of Buvidal® Weekly and Monthly for treatment of opioid dependence
- The Australian Government invests $40 million to provide patients affordable access to two new medicine listings through the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS)
Lund, Sweden — 26 August 2019 — The Australian Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announced on Sunday that Camurus’ long-acting medication Buvidal® Weekly and Monthly (buprenorphine) solutions for injection will be listed on the PBS. From September, Buvidal® will be fully subsidised as a part of a $40 million investment by the Australian Govenment.[1,2]
Over 110,000 Australians are currently struggling with opioid dependence with increasing deaths from overdose.[3,4] Approximately 50,000 people receive treatments for their opioid dependence at 2,852 dosing points in Australia.
In his statement, the Health Minister notes that Buvidal® provides a more flexible option for people to manage their addiction, replacing daily treatment at pharmacy or dosing point with weekly or monthly injections. This will remove costs for daily dispensing and reduce travel times. For further information, see https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/pbs-support-for-end-of-life-care-and-opioid-dependency.
Professor Nicholas Lintzeris, Director of Drug and Alcohol Services, South East Sydney, a lead investigator in clinical trials of Buvidal®, commented “The introduction of a once weekly or once monthly treatment has potential to improve treatment outcomes and reduce the daily burden and the stigma attached to the daily supervised visits to a clinic or pharmacy faced by patients on current daily medications.”
For full Australian prescribing information of Buvidal® Weekly and Buvidal® Monthly, see http://www.medicines.org.au.[5]
About Camurus
Camurus is a Swedish science-led biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercialising innovative and differentiated medicines for the treatment of severe and chronic conditions. New drug products with best-in-class potential are conceived based on the company’s proprietary FluidCrystal® drug delivery technologies and its extensive R&D expertise. Camurus’ clinical pipeline includes products for the treatment of cancer, endocrine diseases, pain and addiction, which are developed in-house and in collaboration with international pharmaceutical companies. The company’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker CAMX. For more information, visit www.camurus.com.
References
- Media Release 25 August 2019, The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister of Health, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service and Cabinet, Australia https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/pbs-support-for-end-of-life-care-and-opioid-dependency
- Department of Health. PBAC Outcomes. March 2019
- Penington Institute. Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2018
- National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. Trends in Drug Induced Deaths in Australia 1997-2017
- Buvidal® Weekly and Monthly Australian Approved Product Information
For more information
Fredrik Tiberg, President & CEO
Tel. +46 (0)46 286 46 92
fredrik.tiberg@camurus.com
Fredrik Joabsson, Chief Business Development Officer
Tel. +46 (0)70 776 17 37
ir@camurus.com
This information was submitted for publication at 8:00 am CET on 26 August 2019.