AUSTRALIANS are missing out on new medicines because pharmaceutical companies think it's too hard to get them subsidised here. 
Nearly nine in 10 big pharmaceutical companies say they considered not applying for a government subsidy for medicines in the past two years.
This is up from 52 per cent two years ago. Half the medicines that do seek a subsidy don't get approved first time around, down from 89 per cent in 2010.
Consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed 23 drug companies about their -attitude to Australia's approval system and found nearly two thirds thought it had not -improved, or had deteriorated, in the past two years.
In   March, a Medicines Australia report found Australians were waiting on a subsidy for 31 medicines -reimbursed in at least 10 other countries.
Patients who need medicines not covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme can face astronomical expenses of more than $180,000 a year. A Senate report last week found it could take more than one-and-a-half years to get a subsidy for new cancer medicines under Australia's system.
It called for a comprehensive review of the system.
The Department of Health said drug companies were partly to blame for delays.On average, drug companies didn't apply for a subsidy in Australia until 38 weeks after they applied for reimbursement in the US and 29 weeks after they asked for a subsidy in Europe, the PBAC said.