The 10 most expensive drugs

New Hepatitis C medicines a costly solution at the top of the most expensive drugs list

Newly approved hepatitis C medicines have topped the latest list of the most costly medicines to the government

The latest released figures showing the top 10 subsidised drugs for the year July 2015 – June 2016, based on PBS and RPBS prescriptions, show that atorvastatin still tops the lists of prescription counts and defined daily dose per 1000 population.

However the hepatitis C combination ledipasvir/sofosbuvir tops the list of expensive drugs, costing the government more than $570 million for the year. Sofosbuvir on its own sits in second place, costing more than $372 million for the year.

The hepatitis C drugs topping the list is the biggest change from last year’s figures, says Australian Prescriber’s medical editor Dr John Dowden.

“These two new hepatitis C medicines—the combination ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, and sofosbuvir on its own—have come onto the market and rocketed into the number one position on the list of top drugs by cost to government,” he said.

“They were only approved in March 2016 and in the four months to June 2016 have cost the government almost $1 billion for 43,000 prescriptions.”

Other expensive medicines with lower number of prescriptions include adalimumab for arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases, ranibizumab and aflibercept for macular degeneration, etanercept for autoimmune disease, and trastuzumab for breast cancer.

As in previous years, medicines for cholesterol and high blood pressure top the list by prescription count.

Top 10 drugs by prescription count

1 atorvastatin	7 630 309 prescriptions
2. esomeprazole	6 889 031
3. rosuvastatin	6 540 962
4. paracetamol	5 056 087
5. pantoprazole	4 747 823
6. perindopril	4 049 113
7. metformin	3 578 536
8. pregabalin	3 237 101
9. fluticasone and salmeterol	3 003 985
10. salbutamol	2 975 537