S-P takes Australian PBAC to court

Schering-Plough has taken Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits AdvisoryCommittee's 12 independent medical experts to the Federal Court over their failure to recommend listing of Johnson & Johnson/Centocor's antitumor necrosis factor antibody Remicade (infliximab) for Crohn's disease, which S-P markets in Australia.

Due to the official secrecy surrounding PBAC deliberations, it is impossible to discover exactly why the drug was not recommended for public subsidy. Also, most of the 12 members have left the key drug advisory board since its recent shakeup (Marketletter January 1 &8 ), according to the Marketletter's correspondent.

The case follows Pfizer's high-profile action against the PBAC after it rejected public subsidy for Pfizer's impotency drug Viagra (sildenafil; Marketletter December 17, 1999). Documents revealed from that case suggest that a successful PBS listing could have seen Viagra sales soar to A$50 million ($25 million) a year.