Psoriasis (PSOR) Program in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) 012-18051130

PSOR is an autoimmune disease characterised by abnormally red, itchy and/or scaly patches of skin.

Listing dates:

• etanercept - 1 August 2006
• infliximab - 1 December 2007
• adalimumab - 1 June 2009
• ustekinumab - 1 March 2010
• etanercept (<18 years) - 1 August 2012
• secukinumab - 1 September 2015
• ixekizumab - 1 February 2017
• guselkumab - 1 February 2019
• tildrakizumab - 1 February 2019
• risankizumab (75 mg syringe) - 1 December 2019*
• ustekinumab (<18 years) - 1 October 2021
• bimekizumab - 1 October 2023
• risankizumab (150 mg pen) - 1 May 2024

* Note: risankizumab 75 mg syringe delisted 1 May 2024

See Written Authority Required Drugs for more details.

A break in treatment cycles is measured:

• from the date of last approval for PBS-subsidised biological medicine treatment in the most recent cycle
• to the date of the first application for initial treatment with a biological medicine under the new treatment cycle

There is no limit to the number of treatment cycles.

See Treatment breaks and failures for full details.

Patient baselines

When a patient qualifies for treatment, they have a measured and defined level of disease activity:

• this level becomes the patient’s baseline
• future applications are measured against the baseline to determine a response or failure to current treatment
• a patient who fails treatment with one medicine may wish to use this flare of disease to set a new baseline for future treatment to be measured against

The baseline measurement for psoriasis is the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI).

Note: if a patient is experiencing a flare, this does not always mean a change of baselines.

The PASI is a quantitative rating scale that measures the severity of psoriatic lesions based on the area coverage (as a percentage) and plaque appearance.

• Application forms include the relevant PASI for both groups of patients to be completed by prescribers
• The majority of patients listed on the program are assessed for response on their whole body PASI:
• Some patients have small patches just affecting the face, hand, or foot
• The face/hand/foot assessment is still referred to as a PASI (some may only refer to the whole body diagram as a PASI)
• Patients can be assessed on either the percentage coverage of the body as a whole, or the percentage coverage of the affected areas
• There are separate restrictions in place for each group of patients

Transfer enquiries about prescription arrangements to PBS Complex Drugs Programs and choose the option relevant to the condition treated.