Agreement with Johnson and Johnson (New Zealand) Ltd for the supply of sutures

16 June 2016

Hospital devices Decision

PHARMAC is pleased to announce the approval of an agreement with Johnson and Johnson (New Zealand) Limited (“J&J”) for the supply of sutures.

These were the subject of a consultation letter dated 6 May 2016 which can be found on PHARMAC’s website.

In summary, the effect of the decision is that:

a range of 1,199 products will be listed in Section H, Part III, (‘Optional Pharmaceuticals’) of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 July 2016.
pricing for these products will be fixed until 30 June 2018.

Details of the decision

PHARMAC has entered into an agreement with J&J for the supply of their range of sutures, to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. This means that when DHB hospitals chose to purchase these products they will do so under PHARMAC’s national agreement at the contracted pricing.

The agreement is not exclusive and DHBs can continue to purchase other brands of sutures at their discretion. This is the fourth agreement entered into by PHARMAC for the supply of sutures and this decision means that most of the sutures purchased by DHB hospitals will be listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The list of products will be available on PHARMAC’s website in both a PDF document and a series of Excel spreadsheets as of 1 July 2016.

Educational services will be provided by J&J to DHB personnel on the appropriate use of their sutures and this will be arranged in a format and at times agreed with individual DHBs.

Feedback received

PHARMAC appreciates all of the feedback that it has received and acknowledges the time people took to respond. All consultation responses received by 27 May 2016 were considered in their entirety. The following themes were raised in relation to the proposal:

Theme	Comment
Support for J&J’s range of products to be listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.	Noted
Individual DHB enquiry about financial impact given their specific circumstances	We have discussed the potential impact of the agreement with those DHBs and, where potentially a cost, we have explored options with them that would mitigate these and/or provide savings. We are comfortable that the proposal represents a net positive deal nationally, and there are options for DHBs to avoid costs in the few cases where this is possible.

Theme

Comment

Support for J&J’s range of products to be listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

Noted

Individual DHB enquiry about financial impact given their specific circumstances

We have discussed the potential impact of the agreement with those DHBs and, where potentially a cost, we have explored options with them that would mitigate these and/or provide savings.

We are comfortable that the proposal represents a net positive deal nationally, and there are options for DHBs to avoid costs in the few cases where this is possible.

More information

If you have any questions about this decision you can email PHARMAC at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz or call our toll free number (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) on 0800 66 00 50.