Contact: Johnny Sollitt-Davis
Corporate Affairs & Communications
Deloitte
Mobile: 0407 269 305
Tel: +61 (0) 2 9322 7256

Australia could realise a net economic benefit of more than $12 billion over five years by wider adoption of pharmacogenomics (or PGx), the science of prescribing the safest and most effective medicine based on a patient’s biomarkers, according to a scoping Study released in Canberra today.

For many patients, PGx would replace the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ model where many patients are prescribed pharmaceuticals that are either ineffective or have bad side effects.

The Study, prepared by Deloitte Economics was commissioned by the Australian Centre for Health Research (ACHR).

ACHR Executive Director, Neil Batt, said the Study had been commissioned to assess the economic case for pharmacogenomics and to recommend ways in which PGx might be implemented. “The Study is our latest contribution to discussions on ways in which Australians can get better value for their health dollar.

“The Study indicates that adverse drug responses make up between two and four per cent of all adverse medical events with an average cost of $14,000 per adverse drug event. This is surely worth avoiding.”

Deloitte Economics director Ms Melanie Kelly and Senior Associate, David Charles said that the Study made a persuasive case for PGx, not least because it would minimise the ‘trial and error’ approach to find the most suitable drug for a patient, an approach that often involved numerous visits to a doctor with some patients discontinuing drug therapy because of side effects or sheer frustration.

Ms Kelly says the inability to identify which patients will respond to which medicines significantly limits the optimal use of pharmaceuticals.  Too often, pharmaceuticals can result in:

• adverse drug responses
• poor, or no response to drugs
• poor patient compliance
• poor access for some individuals if pharmaceuticals fail cost-effectiveness tests based on ‘population’ analyses.

To read the full press release and report, download the attachment below.

For further information:
Neil Batt
ACHR
Mobile: 0409 399 022

Duncan Buckeridge
Partner
Deloitte Economics
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9208 6912

Melanie Kelly
Director
Deloitte Economics
Tel: +61 (0) 3 9208 6925