Decision to list cardiac heart valves and accessories supplied by Edwards Lifesciences (New Zealand) Limited

Hospital devices Decision

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement for the supply of medical devices to DHBs.

What we’re doing

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with Edwards Lifesciences (New Zealand) Limited (“Edwards”) for the supply of cardiac heart valves and accessories.

In summary this will result in:

  • Edwards cardiac heart valves and accessories being listed in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 September 2021 under a national agreement that all DHBs may purchase under; and
  • DHBs being able to continue to purchase other suppliers’ brands of cardiac heart valves and accessories as the agreement is not for sole supply.

Who we think will be most interested

  • Suppliers and wholesalers
  • DHB staff
    • Cardiac Service Managers
    • Cardiac Surgeons
    • Cardiologists
    • DHB procurement and supply chain personnel

Details about this decision

In coordination with Pharmac, NZ Health Partnerships (“NZHP”) has previously released Requests for Proposals (“RFPs”) for ranges of medical devices which Pharmac may list on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. NZHP released an RFP for cardiac heart valves and accessories in December 2018 and Edwards entered an agreement with NZHP via this process.

In February 2021 Pharmac issued a Registration of Interest (“ROI”) for cardiac heart valves and accessories to transfer responsibility for management of the medical devices from NZHP to Pharmac.

As there were no material changes made to the terms and conditions that are currently in place, Pharmac decided that consultation on the provisional Agreement was not required and decided to list cardiac heart valves and accessories in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 September 2021.

The list of products will be available on PHARMAC's website from 1 September 2021, in both PDF and Excel formats.

DHBs can continue to choose cardiac heart valves and accessories they purchase, including those from other suppliers. DHBs that purchase these products from Edwards must do so under the terms and conditions, including pricing, in the Pharmac Agreement from 1 September 2021.

The Agreement includes terms and conditions for training and education to be provided by Edwards on the appropriate use of its products, which is to be provided at times and in formats as agreed with individual DHBs.

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