Change to the types of Alternative Commercial Proposals that may be submitted during consultation on the annual draft Invitation to Tender

PHARMAC is changing the types of proposals that may be submitted in response to consultation on the draft Annual multi-product tender.

This was the subject of a consultation letter dated 17 June 2016.

In summary, the effect of the decision is that:

  • Removal of the option for suppliers to be awarded Hospital Supply Status as part of Alternative Commercial Proposals (ACPs).

Details of the decision

From August 2016:

  • suppliers are no longer invited to submit ACPs to tendering which propose the award of Hospital Supply Status to any products.

The criteria stated in the Invitation to Tender Consultation document for ACPs will be amended as follows (additions in bold and deletions in strikethrough):

  • ACPs may include more than one line item and may include pharmaceuticals not listed in Schedule Two of the draft Tender;
  • ACPs may seek PHARMAC’s agreement to defer tendering or application of reference pricing for a period of time for any pharmaceutical, whether or not it is listed in Schedule Two of the draft Tender;
  • ACPs may propose PHARMAC awarding Hospital Supply Status for Hospital Pharmaceuticals included in Schedule Two but not for Hospital Pharmaceuticals that do not appear in Schedule Two;
  • ACPs may not propose awarding Sole Subsidised Supply Status in the community or Hospital Supply Status in DHB Hospitals;
  • PHARMAC reserves the right:
    • not to accept any ACPs; and/or
    • not to provide reasons for the acceptance or non-acceptance of any ACP; and/or
    • to enter into an agreement or arrangement that differs in a material respect from that envisaged in this letter.

The consultation letter can be viewed on PHARMAC’s website.

Feedback received

We appreciate all of the feedback that we received and acknowledge the time people took to respond. All consultation responses received by Friday 1 July 2016 were considered in their entirety in making a decision on the proposed changes. Most responses were supportive of the proposal, and the following issues were raised in relation to specific aspects of the proposal:

Theme Comment
Consideration of removal of ACP process. Noted. At this time the ACP process is continuing but with the removal of the option for granting Hospital Sole Supply.

More information

If you have any questions about this decision, you can email us at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz.