As critical government subsidies are refused or delayed in Federal Cabinet, two pharmaceutical companies have dramatically decided they won’t reapply for a subsidy after being knocked back up to seven times.

Lowest number of drugs placed on PBS in 20 years

Their decision has left patients who need the life-extending melanoma treatment Zelboraf facing a $9,400 a month bill for treatment.

Meanwhile, the small number of people with the rare Pompe’s Disease which impairs muscle function and reduces life expectancy are expected to afford $400,000 a year for the treatment Myozyme.

And other crucial medicines which have been approved for subsidy by an independent expert government committee are months later still waiting for cabinet to approve the funding.

Former policeman Doug Preston risked death if he waited for Cabinet to approve subsidy for his $3,500 a month prostate cancer treatment Zytiga. He had to remortgage his house to find the money.

“If I hadn’t done that I would have got past the no return point, my back would have decayed, my legs would have crumbled, I would be bed bound and waiting for death,” he said, explaining that he has a new lease of life since he started the drug.

Zytiga was approved for subsidy by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee in March, July and November 2012 but the drug company was initially unhappy with the price it was being offered, delaying the subsidy approval.

A new anti-clotting medicine Pradxa was approved for subsidy two years ago and then again in March but 100,000 stroke patients who could benefit from it are still waiting for cabinet to fund it.

Under an agreement the government has with the medicines industry it has six months to approve a medicine if it is approved for subsidy and a price agreement is reached with the company.

The knock-backs and delays come as a study commissioned by pharmaceutical lobby group Medicines Australia found last month that the number of new medicines placed on the nation’s drug subsidy scheme was the lowest in 20 years in 2011-12.

Just 15 new medicines were added to the scheme that year, 40 per cent fewer than the 20-year average of 25 new drugs a year, the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies found.

Many Australians get free access to breakthrough new drugs through clinical trials but the number of new clinical trials approved in Australia is also down 30 per cent in the past six years.

Medicines Australia chief Brendan Shaw says patients waiting for cabinet to approve funding for their medicines are now worried the caretaker period where government ceases entering contracts during the election may further delay subsidies.

Medical Oncology Group of Australia chair Professor Gary Richardson says Australia’s drug approval system is out of date a needs to be reviewed.

“We are now falling behind Eastern European countries with the availability of medicines,” he said.

Drugs should be reimbursed earlier and monitored for five years after which their performance and price should be reassessed, he said.

Dr Shaw says the pharmaceutical industry wants all parties to agree after the election to a new framework for approving medicine subsidies that will speed up the process and provide certainty.