Celgene’s Revlimid Added to Subsidized Drugs List in Australia
2009-11-02 02:12:14.788 GMT


By Simeon Bennett

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Celgene Corp.’s cancer drug Revlimid has been added to a list of government-subsidized drugs in Australia, the nation’s health department said.

The government will subsidize Revlimid for about 1,000 patients with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the department said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.

Adding Revlimid to the program will cost the government about A$104 million ($94 million) over the next four financial years, it said. The medicine earned Summit, New Jersey-based Celgene more than $1.3 billion last year, making it the company’s best-selling drug.

"Multiple myeloma is the second most common type of cancer of bone marrow," the government said. "It damages a patient’s bones, resulting in pain, fractures and high blood calcium levels."  While the cancer can be controlled with treatment, a long-term cure is currently unlikely, it said.

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