The Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee’s decision to allow tumour-agnostic reimbursement of nivolumab and ipilimumab is a bold experiment that involves a considerable level of risk-sharing between government, industry, clinicians and patients. The central policy challenge now is whether Australia has sufficient infrastructure and initiative to convert this access into timely and decision-relevant evidence.
Reimbursement that accelerates access despite uncertainty carries an obligation to learn. Access to this article via Institution of Civil Engineers Library is not available.
Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. Nivolumab (metastatic cancer); injection concentrate for I.V.
infusion 40 mg in 4 mL, injection concentrate for I.V. infusion 100 mg in 10 mL; Opdivo®; ipilimumab (metastatic cancer); injection concentrate for I.V.
infusion 50 mg in 10 mL, Iinjection concentrate for I.V. infusion 200 mg in 40 mL; Yervoy®.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/industry/listing/elements/pbac-meetings/psd/2025-07/nivolumab-plus-ipilimumab-psd-july-2025 (2025). Subbiah, V.
& Kurzrock, R. The case for tumour-agnostic reimbursement of dual immunotherapy.
Eur. J.
Cancer 241 , 116784 (2026). Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn-Khosrovani, S., Olivier, T.
& Thomas, D. Bypassing the evidence pathway: world-first tumour-agnostic reimbursement for dual immunotherapy.
Eur.
Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology published a clinical update in Oncology on 08 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Realizing the benefits of tumour-agnostic access requires a national health learning system.
Review the original article for the full source wording and details.