November 2008 PBAC Outcomes - Reviews

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Recommendations made by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) in November 2008 relating to the listing of drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

table showing reviews made by the PBAC - November

Drug and Form	Drug use and Type	Reason For Review	PBAC Finding
Pioglitazone, (Actos®) Eli Lilly Australia Pty Ltd Review	Type 2 diabetes	To review the current PBS listings for pioglitazone in light of the recent regulatory action in respect of rosiglitazone.	No action to be taken unless regulatory situation changes.
Trastuzumab, (Herceptin®) Roche Products Pty Ltd Review	Metastatic breast cancer	To review the clinical and cost-effectiveness of trastuzumab for HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer.	PBAC agreed that in the first-line treatment of HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer, the combination of trastuzumab and a taxane or vinorelbine, is more effective than chemotherapy alone. There are limited data on the effectiveness of continuing trastuzumab beyond progression, and this data has not been evaluated by the PBAC. However, the PBAC could not recommend the transfer of trastuzumab from the Herceptin Program to the PBS on the basis of an unacceptable cost effectiveness ratio at the current price.