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Amendment of descriptions and PBS item codes for various PBS listed insulins

Page last updated: 1 February 2021

Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT) is used to describe listings in the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits.

Implementation of updated AMT descriptions for various PBS listed insulin products in the 1 February 2021 Schedule has changed the description of form in the Schedule from 'cartridge' to 'pen device’. The products themselves and the conditions under which they are available on the PBS are unchanged.

The products affected by the description change are supplied in the form of a prefilled disposable injection device. As the description of form remains unchanged for other insulin products listed on the PBS with the same PBS item code as the affected product, the change in description to 'pen device' has required the introduction of a new PBS item code for each updated listing.

Accordingly, the following new listings for the insulin products affected by the description change appear in the 1 February 2021 PBS Schedule:

  • Apidra SoloStar® – insulin glulisine 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12268Q
  • Humalog KwikPen® – insulin lispro 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12237C
  • Humalog Mix25 KwikPen® – insulin lispro 25 units/mL + insulin lispro protamine 75 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12234X
  • Humalog Mix50 KwikPen® – insulin lispro 50 units/mL + insulin lispro protamine 50 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12261H
  • Levemir FlexPen® – insulin detemir 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12236B
  • Mixtard 30/70 InnoLet® – insulin isophane human 70 units/mL + insulin neutral human 30 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12255B
  • NovoMix 30 FlexPen® – insulin aspart 30 units/mL + insulin aspart protamine 70 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12238D
  • NovoRapid FlexPen® – insulin aspart 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12254Y
  • Optisulin SoloStar® – insulin glargine 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 11815W
  • Protaphane InnoLet® – insulin isophane human 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL pen devices, item 12262J

To minimise disruption to patients, and allow relevant PBS prescriptions written prior to 1 February 2021 to be dispensed under PBS arrangements, the following listings with superseded descriptions have been placed in 'supply only'* status from 1 February 2021 for a period of 12 months:

  • Apidra SoloStar® – insulin glulisine 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 1921D
  • Humalog KwikPen® – insulin lispro 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 8212F
  • Humalog Mix25 KwikPen® – insulin lispro 25 units/mL + insulin lispro protamine 75 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 8390N
  • Humalog Mix50 KwikPen® – insulin lispro 50 units/mL + insulin lispro protamine 50 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 8874C
  • Levemir FlexPen® – insulin detemir 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 9040T
  • Mixtard 30/70 InnoLet® – insulin isophane human 70 units/mL + insulin neutral human 30 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 1763T
  • NovoMix 30 FlexPen® – insulin aspart 30 units/mL + insulin aspart protamine 70 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 8609D
  • NovoRapid FlexPen® – insulin aspart 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 8435Y
  • Optisulin SoloStar® – insulin glargine 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 9039R
  • Protaphane InnoLet® – insulin isophane human 100 units/mL injection, 5 x 3 mL cartridges, item 1761Q

* 'Supply only' status for the relevant listings means that from 1 February 2021 pre-existing PBS prescriptions may be dispensed as pharmaceutical benefits, but new PBS prescriptions may not be written for these listings.