Empagliflozin PBS listing expanded to patients with high CV risk regardless of HbA1c level
It follows a similar change affecting dapagliflozin last year.
Patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of cardiovascular events now have access to PBS-funded empagliflozin, whatever their HbA1c levels.
The new PBS listing lets doctors initiate empagliflozin in combination with metformin for type 2 diabetes patients with existing CVD, high cardiovascular risk or who are Indigenous.
The listing defines high risk as an estimated risk of a cardiovascular event of at least 10% over five years, and directs doctors to the Australian CVD Risk Calculator.
Endocrinologist Dr Ted Wu, director of Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Diabetes Centre, said the expansion meant patients with good glycaemic control could now access the drug on the PBS for its cardiovascular protective effects.
