Consultation on proposed 2021/22 Invitation to Tender: For suppliers

• A proposal to tender certain pharmaceuticals for principal supply;
• The implications of awarding Principal Supply Status; and
• Commercial proposals as an alternative to tendering.

Pharmac welcomes all feedback on the draft 2021/22 Tender. Feedback received by the deadline may be considered by the Tender Medical Evaluation Subcommittee of PTAC and would be considered by the Pharmac Board (or its Delegate, where applicable) prior to making a decision on this proposal. 

Feedback should be provided by submitting an email to the Tender Analysts:

Email: tender@pharmac.govt.nz

Feedback we receive is subject to the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) and we will consider any request to have information withheld in accordance with our obligations under the OIA. Anyone providing feedback, whether on their own account or on behalf of an organisation, and whether in a personal or professional capacity, should be aware that the content of their feedback and their identity may need to be disclosed in response to an OIA request.

We are not able to treat any part of your feedback as confidential unless you specifically request that we do, and then only to the extent permissible under the OIA and other relevant laws and requirements. If you would like us to withhold any commercially sensitive, confidential proprietary, or personal information included in your submission, please clearly state this in your submission and identify the relevant sections of your submission that you would like it withheld. PHARMAC will give due consideration to any such request.

Details of the proposed 2021/22 Tender

In general, the proposed 2021/22 Tender process would be similar to the 2020/21 Tender in that the 2021/22 Tender would result in awarding Principal Supply Status (PSS) (previously Sole Supply Status and/or Hospital Supply Status).

Packaging preferences

We have historically indicated a preference for the pack size of Tender Items supplied in the community to be either a 30-day or 90-day pack, as this improves dispensing efficiency and reduces wastage. In the coming years we are intending to put greater emphasis on the appropriateness of both packaging type and pack size, with a preference for bottle packs for tablets and capsules where possible. In this Tender we have identified specific packaging preferences for individual products in Schedule 2, and we expect to expand this to a much wider range of products in future Tenders.

We are seeking feedback on the composition of the draft 2021/22 Tender. This is still under development and may change before it is taken to the Board (or its Delegate) for approval and subsequently issued. At this stage, but depending on the extent of any changes, Pharmac does not intend to send out further drafts for consultation.

In addition to Alternative Commercial Proposals (discussed below), we seek comments on all sections of the draft 2021/22 Tender, in particular on: 

• An indication of any pharmaceuticals, whether or not they are included in Schedule Two of the draft 2021/22 Tender, that you consider should be tendered, and the reasons for that view. If you wish, you may provide a non-binding confidential indication of the price or price range that you might be able to offer for a line item or group of line items you wish to have tendered;
• An indication of any pharmaceuticals, whether or not they are included in Schedule Two of the draft 2021/22 Tender, that you consider would be inappropriate to tender, and the reasons for that view, including any contractual constraints or patent protection that could restrict Pharmac from awarding a tender on a particular pharmaceutical;
• Your views on whether any product included in Schedule Two might have more than 5% of patients needing to access an alternative brand;
• Feedback on any unresolved Tender Bid(s) from previous tenders that you consider should remain open for acceptance. Please note that some currently unresolved Tender Bids may be resolved prior to the consultation deadline and the final 2021/22 Tender being issued.

Draft Invitation to Tender

A complete copy of the draft 2021/22 Tender, including the proposed terms and conditions which successful tender bids would be subject to, is available on our website.

Download the 2021/22 draft Invitation to Tender [PDF, 601 KB]

The draft 2021/22 Tender comprises the following sections:

Schedule 1: Definitions and interpretation

Schedule 2: The list of pharmaceuticals proposed for tender* ^#

Download Schedule 2: Products to be tendered [XLSX, 32 KB]

Download Supplement to Schedule 2 (includes pharmacodes) [XLSX, 26 KB]

Schedule 3: The tender process (for both hospital and community tender bids)

Schedule 4: Contract terms for Principal Supply Status for both community and hospital supply

Schedule 5: Additional contract terms for Principal Supply Status for community supply

Schedule 6: Additional contract terms for Principal Supply Status for hospital supply

Schedule 7: Additional special terms for particular pharmaceuticals

*The units provided in Schedule Two consist of market data for the year ended 30 June 2021. The figures included are indicative only and are provided on the basis set out in clause 1.3 of Schedule 2 of the draft 2021/22 Tender.

^#The final list of products, which may change following consultation, would be released as part of the 2021/22 Tender, following Board (or its Delegate) approval. You may provide feedback on the inclusion of any additional pharmaceuticals after the 2021/22 Tender has been issued, and any such feedback would be considered by the Board (or its Delegate) before making a final decision on any product, provided that any feedback is given prior to the tender close date in late 2021.

Key proposed inclusions:

Additional Special Terms

Intra-uterine copper devices

Additional Special Terms have been included in the draft 2021/22 Tender contract for intra-uterine copper devices (Schedule Seven). This clause requires any potential suppliers to offer education, training and support resources to patients and healthcare professionals. This clause also outlines the additional information suppliers must provide relating to their Tender Bid. The full Additional Special Terms for intra-uterine copper devices can be found in the draft 2021/22 Tender contract on the Pharmac website.

Long-acting filgrastim

Long-acting filgrastim has been included in the draft 2021/22 Tender. Pharmac would consider bids for any long-acting filgrastim product (e.g. pegfilgrastim, pegfilgrastim biosimilars, and lipegfilgrastim) for this market; all of which would be subject to the same access criteria. Pharmac reserves the right to award the tender to one long-acting filgrastim product for the entire market.

Please note: in response to feedback from the Ministry of Health Haematology Working Group (HWG) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Pharmac amended the access criteria for pegfilgrastim. Access was widened to patients when used for the prevention of neutropenia in patients undergoing high risk chemotherapy for cancer (febrile neutropenia risk greater than or equal to 5% [was previously 20%]). This change was intended to be a temporary health sector resource saving measure with the intention that access criteria would revert to the previous threshold of 20% on 1 December 2020.

A decision on whether to revert to the 20% threshold was deferred in August 2020(external link). A decision on whether to maintain or amend the access criteria is expected to be made over the coming months subject to clinical advice (please note that this may not be as restrictive as the original criteria).

The figures and table below are provided to give an indication of the potential market size under both access criteria scenarios while a decision is still pending. Please note the information is approximate and indicative only. Pharmac makes no representation as to the accuracy of this information or as to the level of sales or likely sales of long-acting filgrastim and, while Pharmac has taken all reasonable care in preparing the information set out below, it accepts no liability for any errors or omissions in the information. Pharmac is not obliged to notify you in the event of any change to the figures below:

Key dates and timeframes for the 2021/22 Tender

The timelines for the 2021/22 Tender are envisaged to be similar to the 2020/21 Tender; we propose to release the final 2021/22 Invitation to Tender in early November 2021 and consequently the closing date for tender submissions would be mid December 2021. The proposed timeline is outlined in the following table:

Unresolved Tender Bids

We intend to review any unresolved Tender Bids from the 2018/19 ITT, 2019/20 ITT and 2020/21 Tenders prior to issuing the 2021/22 Tender.  The following Tender Bids remain unresolved:

2018/19 Invitation to Tender

2019/20 Invitation to Tender

2020/21 Invitation to Tender

Should any unresolved Tender Bids be declined prior to the release of the 2021/22 Tender, Pharmac would consider re-tendering those pharmaceuticals when the 2021/22 Tender is issued. Unresolved Tender Bids have not been included in the draft pharmaceutical list (Schedule Two).

Products not currently listed the Pharmaceutical Schedule

The following products included in Schedule Two of the draft 2021/22 Tender are not  currently listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule: 

Electronic Tender (eTender) system

The 2021/22 Tender will be distributed via Pharmac’s electronic tendering portal. The portal requires companies to register for a user account and details of how to register will be distributed prior to the release of the final 2021/22 Invitation to Tender. Please let us know if the contact details for the person responsible for submitting tender bids have changed for your company by sending an email to the Tender Analysts at tender@pharmac.govt.nz by 4 pm (New Zealand time), Friday 24 September 2021.

Alternative Commercial Proposals

Pharmac seeks any Alternative Commercial Proposals (ACPs) to tendering that you may wish to submit. An ACP may, for example, offer price reductions on one set of pharmaceuticals in return for Pharmac agreeing to defer tendering on another group of pharmaceuticals for a period.

Please note the following points apply to ACPs for both the community and DHB hospital markets:

• ACPs should include at least one item listed in Schedule Two of the draft 2021/22 Tender;
• ACPs may include more than one line item and may include pharmaceuticals not listed in Schedule Two of the draft 2021/22 Tender;
• ACPs should not include any items subject to an unresolved 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 2021/22 Tender;
• ACPs may not propose awarding Principal Supply Status in the community or DHB Hospitals, or any other form of sole or exclusive supply;
• 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.

ACPs are due by 4 pm (New Zealand Time), Wednesday 11 August 2021. Pharmac may not consider any ACPs that are submitted after this date.

Usage data for ‘PCT only’ injectable products

The table below contains ‘PCT only’ usage data for items included in the 2021/22 Tender. These volumes are approximate and indicative only. Pharmac makes no representation as to the accuracy of these figures or as to the level of sales or likely sales of any tender item.