Pegasys® is now available – the Irish stock has arrived, however it will not be on the PBS until 1 September 2025
The MPN AA is happy to share the advice that Pegasys® is once again available for Australian patients. BUT it will only be available as a private script during August.
For a full explanation of the situation, please see the advice from the supplier of Pegasys® in Australia, Echo Therapeutics on the JustMeds website.
Haematologist Dr Cecily Forsyth and MPN AA advocate Nathalie Cook OAM have prepared an explanatory video for patients about the current Australian Pegasys supply.
The video addresses the current and future supply issues and outlines strategies for patients and their haematologists to minimise any problems or manage any short breaks in supply.
In summary, the expected timeline for Pegasys Australian supplies is:
| May – July 2025 |
Just under one month of 135 ug syringes remain. Australia is currently out of 180 ug supply. Patients with 180 ug scripts who may not have enough Pegasys supply to last til July may need a 135 ug script for the interim period. |
| July 2025 |
New Irish stock expected to arrive in Australia. This stock is from the new certified factory in Austria that we will receive stock from later in the year. Patients with 135 ug scripts may need to obtain 180 ug scripts as the Irish stock will have far more 180 ug supplies than 135 ug supplies |
| July – November 2025 |
Patients will be using the Irish supplied stock and this will continue to be delivered by JustMeds until permanent supplies are in place. Patients will still need to multidose to preserve supplies. |
| November 2025 | New Australian stock direct from the factory anticipated to arrive |
A transcript of this interview is available HERE
Background
On 20 May we posted a Letter from Echo Therapeutics also explaining more detail around the Pegasys supply situation.
Not sure how to multi-dose?
The MPN AA previously prepared an information sheet on How some patients multidose.
It includes information on where patients can buy the correct size needles online if their pharmacy or hospital does not have any available.
And below is a short video prepared previously by haematology nurse practitioner Jacqui Jagger showing how to safely multidose.
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The MPN AA has been advised of some very encouraging news about the Pegasys supply in Australia into the future.
For details, please see the attached letter from the Australian supplier, Echo Therapeutics.
Letter-to-Clinicians Patients and HCPs -Update-on-Pegasys®-supply-Australia-May-2025.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has updated its advice on a possible shortage of Pegasys in Australia. Its website now states that there is an anticipated shortage from June to September 2025.
To date, prompt action by the supplier of Pegasys in Australia, Echo Therapeutics in partnership with JustMeds, has enabled Australian patients to continue to access Pegasys despite the worldwide shortage.
Echo Therapeutics has written a letter to MPN patients providing more context about the shortage and its likely duration, what is being done to minimise the shortage, etc.
See: Letter-to-Patients-Update-on-Pegasys®-supply-Australia-March-2025.
As to where to from here for MPN patients being treated with Pegasys…..
Valuable information and strategies for patients to discuss with their haematologist are outlined in the Q and A video interview below with haematologist Dr Cecily Forsyth and MPN AA team member and advocate Nathalie Cook OAM.
Multidosing information
During the period of the anticipated Pegasys shortage, some patients may wish to know how some of us multidose from a pegasys vial. A video has kindly been prepared by haematology nurse practitioner, Jacqui Jagger to provide patients with information on how this can be done safely and effectively (see below).
An information sheet on multidosing has also been prepared – see How some patients multidose.
For future updates, please continue to check the News section of this website.
The company delivering Pegasys®, JustMeds, has advised that they are now able to deliver Pegasys® to regional patients in cold chain validated shippers.
These shippers are specially made to keep your Pegasys® between 2-8 degrees for 96 hours.
The shippers need to be returned for your next delivery and the instructions for their return are on the box – see photo below.
And just a reminder that Pegasys® for all Australian patients can now be ordered and reordered online at
https://www.justmeds.com.au/send-your-script
The company dispensing and arranging delivery for Pegasys® has set up an online ordering link to speed up the ordering process for Australian patients.
This should save patients time and effort and enable patients in Australia who need their Pegasys urgently to get through to the dispensing team.
The link to order can be accessed HERE.
We thought it might be useful to provide a direct link to the patient information for ordering Pegasys® – see below.
Please note that there is currently an issue with the phone number provided on the form.
If you need to call as part of your ordering, please use the following number for now.
02 5850 0794
For anyone in Australia who is currently being prescribed Pegasys® (peginterferon alfa-2a) as a treatment for MPNs, the MPN AA wants to update you on some important changes to how you will be able to access this medicine moving forward.
While many of you will have been getting Pegasys® dispensed at a local pharmacy, this will start to change from 1 September 2024, with a new Pegasys® Home Delivery Program coming into effect.
This program is delivered by Echo Therapeutics (the sponsor of Pegasys® in Australia) through its EchoCare™ service, in partnership with JustMeds – a local specialist medicines delivery provider.
This means you will now have Pegasys® delivered directly to your home, workplace or another location, rather than having go into a pharmacy to pick up your medicine. Importantly, 1 September is not a hard deadline to switch over to the new home delivery program. We know it may take some time for people to adjust to this new process, so there is flexibility built in for you to be able to transition across to the Pegasys® Home Delivery Program at the right time for you.
Echo Therapeutics has engaged with doctors and nurse practitioners who are involved in the management and care of people with MPNs, along with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Pharmacists have been informed about these changes and will be aware of the new process.
This Pegasys® Home Delivery Program is a short- to medium-term solution. It will be in place until Echo Therapeutics is satisfied the local supply chain for Pegasys® is more intact and there is a lower risk of unauthorised export. Once confirmed, it is expected that Pegasys® will become available in retail pharmacies again.
You can find more information about this in the letter attached, and step by step guides on how to access Pegasys through the JustMeds partner provider. https://www.justmeds.com.au/pegasys
Alternatively, you can email rx@justmeds.com.au for more information.
As you know, MPN AA does not promote or recommend specific treatments for people living with MPNs. Decisions about any treatments should be made in careful consultation with your haematologist, after taking into account the potential benefits and side effects for each person’s individual circumstances.
Kind regards,
MPN AA Team
Patient Communication Letter from Echo pharmaceuticals re Pegasys
The Leukaemia Foundation has just launched Season 2 of their ‘Talking Blood Cancer’ podcast series.
We are delighted to let you know that the first podcast features the MPNAA’s own Nathalie Cook. She shares her own MPN story and her success with using Pegasys (pegylated interferon) for controlling her blood counts.
Nathalie played a pivotal role in having Pegasys listed onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme here in Australia. It has been available to patients on the PBS since 2018.
You can listen here to Nathalie’s Pegasys story
We are so proud of you Nathalie, and so thankful for your huge efforts on behalf of the MPN community in Australia. Your passion, networking and intellectual rigour have absolutely got us to a place no one thought we would ever reach. We as a community have been told so many times in the past that this could never happen, and without you, it would not have. Many patients will benefit from your achievement of successfully advocating for an affordable alternative drug therapy for MPNs.
We would also like to acknowledge others who have contributed on behalf of the MPN community over the years to make pegylated interferon available and affordable for patients in the recent and more distant past. These include Ken Young many years ago (together with the late patient advocate Ian Sweet); Lara Chapman who encouraged and assisted the MPN community with making submissions to the Senate Committee Inquiry into the Availability of New, Innovative and Specialist Cancer Drugs In Australia in 2015; a small number of very dedicated haematologists; the Leukaemia Foundation; Rare Cancers Australia; and of course all those MPN patients and advocates who made submissions to the Senate Committee Inquiry and supporting submissions to the PBAC.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
