Tender still important to maintain New Zealanders’ access to medicines, says PHARMAC chief

New Zealand’s Pharmaceuticals Management Agency PHARMAC’s annual tender continues to achieve its objectives, freeing up nearly NZ$45 million ($29.9 million) from the 2014/15 tender round to reinvest in more medicines for more New Zealanders.

The tender is one of the main ways that PHARMAC releases savings from pharmaceutical spending. The savings are important to enable New Zealanders to get the best health outcomes from pharmaceutical funding, by giving PHARMAC the ability to continue funding an increase in demand for existing medicines and create opportunities for new medicines to be funded.

Director of Operations Sarah Fitt says that the process of awarding contracts from the 2014/15 tender is nearly complete.