Decision to list medical devices supplied by Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited

What we’re doing

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited (“Abbott”) for the supply of cardiology equipment and accessories:

• cardiac heart valves and accessories
• electrophysiology equipment and consumables, and
• ICDs, pacemakers and associated products.

In summary this will result in:

• Medical devices in the above three cardiology categories from Abbott being listed in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 June 2022 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, electrophysiology equipment and consumables, and ICDs, pacemakers and associated products as this agreement is not for sole supply.

Any changes to the original proposal?

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 6 April 2022.

There have been no changes to the agreement since consultation.

Who we think will be most interested

• DHB staff
  • Cardiac Service Managers
  • Cardiac Surgeons
  • Cardiologists
  • Cardiology unit staff
  • Procurement and supply chain personnel
• Suppliers and wholesalers

Details about this decision

In September 2020 Pharmac issued a Registration of Interest (“ROI”) for a range of medical devices, including electrophysiology equipment and consumables, considered for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

In February 2021 Pharmac issued a ROI for cardiac heart valves and accessories considered for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

In March 2021 Pharmac issued a ROI for ICDs, pacemakers and associated products considered for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule(external link).

The ROIs were undertaken to transfer the responsibility for management of electrophysiology equipment and consumables, cardiac heart valves and accessories, and ICDs, pacemakers and associated products from New Zealand Health Partnerships to Pharmac. All three ROIs were for non-exclusive national agreements for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

The list of products will be available on Pharmac's website from 1 June 2022 in both PDF and Excel formats.

DHBs can continue to choose which cardiac heart valves and accessories, electrophysiology equipment and consumables, and ICDs, pacemakers and associated products they procure, include those from other suppliers. DHBs that procure these medical devices from Abbott must do so under the terms and conditions, including pricing, in the agreement from 1 June 2022.

Our response to what you told us

We appreciate the time people took to respond to this consultation. All consultation responses received were considered in their entirety in making the decision to list medical devices supplied by Abbott.

A summary of the main themes raised in feedback and our responses to the feedback are set out below:

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.