From 1 September, pembrolizumab, sold as Keytruda, will have expanded PBS access for eligible patients with advanced or metastatic immunotherapy-sensitive cancers. This includes bile duct, ovarian and the rare skin cancer, Merkel cell cancer.
Keytruda was already available for 17 cancer indications, but now will also be listed in combination with enfortumab vedotin, sold as Padcev, for people with stage 3 or 4 urothelial cancer, an advanced form of bladder cancer. This treatment could impact more than 490 people per year with bladder cancer, and 700 people affected by other cancers. Health minister Mark Butler said, “Keytruda is one of the most extraordinary drugs available in the country and now it is listed to help so many more Australian patients.”
