Concerns about Teva

Thank you for your request dated 5 September 2024 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) regarding concerns about Pharmac’s dealings with Teva, an Israeli multinational pharmaceutical company. We appreciate your concerns.

Currently New Zealand has not imposed sanctions on the State of Israel. More information and advice about the Israel-Hamas conflict and situation in Gaza is available on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade website(external link).

Pharmac remains focused on securing adequate supplies of the medicines that New Zealanders need in order to stay healthy and well. The currently funded brands of cetirizine (Zista) and amitriptyline (Arrow-Amitriptyline) were selected through Pharmac’s annual tender process. This is a competitive process that ensures fair, open and robust decisions on what brands Pharmac funds when there are multiple potential suppliers, informed by clinical advice. This includes consideration of the impact of a brand change on the people taking the medicine. Pharmac funds medicines from a large range of suppliers through this process.

You have mentioned the price of Zista as a concern. Zista is currently listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule (the list of publicly funded medicines) at a funded price of $1.71 per 100 tablets. The cost to most people taking cetirizine tablets as a publicly funded medicine, on a prescription, would be $5 per prescription (that is the prescription co-payment for most people, which helps cover the pharmacy dispensing costs).

It is possible to purchase cetirizine tablets over the counter at a pharmacy (or in small quantities from other retailers) without a prescription. In this case, the patient would pay the full price of the medicine, which may differ depending on the brand and the retailer. This cost is currently considerably higher than the funded price, for all available brands.