The PBS listing for Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) will be expanded from 1 July 2025, Health Minister Mark Butler has announced.
Patients, including children, diagnosed with rarer mutations of cystic fibrosis (CF) will now be able to access Trikafta through the PBS with the listing expanded to include patients who have at least one CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene mutation that is responsive to treatment.
Around 180 Australians each year are expected to benefit from this expansion to Trikafta’s PBS listing.
Without the PBS subsidy, they could pay more than $250,000 for a year of treatment.
Through the PBS they will pay a maximum of $31.60 per script, or just $7.70 if they hold a concession card.
The price will be even cheaper from 1 January 2026 when the maximum patients pay for PBS medicines will drop to just $25 per script.
Trikafta and other similar drugs, together with improved treatment and care, have increased the life expectancy for people with CF from 47 to 60 years in the past two decades.
“As the national peak body for cystic fibrosis, Cystic Fibrosis Australia is proud to see our voices being heard as our country takes a bold step forward in expanding access to Trikafta,” said Jo Armstrong, CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Australia.
“This decision places Australia as a global leader for equitable access to CF therapies, a position made possible by the government’s pragmatic approach to real-world data, in vitro studies, and clinical evidence.
“This decision means that hundreds of Australians living with Cystic Fibrosis will now have access to a therapy that was previously out of reach, a treatment that can dramatically improve quality of life and life expectancy.
“For those who’ve waited, hoped, and campaigned, this is more than a policy decision, it’s a transformational outcome.”