Landmark drug that aims to delay type 1 diabetes approved for use by TGA
The drug is estimated to cost the equivalent of $280,000 in the US, with the PBAC considering whether to list it on the PBS.
Patients in the pre-symptomatic stage of type 1 diabetes can now be treated with the first non-insulin medicine, which aims to slow the immune system attack leading to lifelong insulin treatment.
Teplizumab is being sold as the first new therapy approved for the disease since the discovery of insulin more than 100 years ago.
The TGA has now approved it for use in Australia for adult and paediatric patients aged eight or older with stage 2 type 1 diabetes.
The drug works by temporarily modifying the T-cells that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, delaying stage 3 diabetes.
