A supplier, health professional, or New Zealander can apply for a medicine or related product to be funded. This is the general process applications go through.
It’s not always linear or this simple, but our Factors for Consideration are used throughout to make sure we are getting the best health outcomes for New Zealand.
Apply: A supplier, health professional, or everyday New Zealander can submit an application with our online Application Tracker.
Review: We review and evaluate applications before putting them to our expert advisory committees.
Assess: Our committees give us expert clinical and consumer advice. This helps us conduct a thorough assessment of an application using the Factors for Consideration.
Prioritise: We decide what applications to progress by comparing applications against others on our Priority Lists. Those we want to take forward are ranked on the Options for Investment list.
Negotiate: We negotiate a price with suppliers that’s within our budget, working hard to get some of the best deals with pharmaceutical companies for medicines in the world.
Agree: Once we have a provisional agreement with the supplier, we can move the application forward.
Consult: We ask New Zealanders what they think. Their submissions help us address issues and adapt proposals based on feedback.
Funding decision: The Pharmac board or delegate makes the final decision. We then notify health professionals and the public.
List: The medicine or related product is listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule and becomes available to New Zealanders.
The Government sets a fixed budget for medicines so not every application moves forward.
