31 AUGUST 2009
Major drug switch averted
Jodi Yeats
jyeats@nzdoctor.co.nz
DAILY NEWS: A Pharmac deal has averted a switch from a popular heart drug to a generic form
A major switch to a generic drug has been averted thanks to a deal between Pharmac and AstraZeneca involving heart drug Betaloc.
Restrictions on access to both Betaloc CR (metoprolol succinate) and Zoladex (goserelin) will be lifted tomorrow in an agreement that sees Pharmac continuing to fully subsidise the drugs until the end of January 2012.
GPs have already had to manage two mammoth drug switches this year, with Pharmac finding it cheaper to fully subsidise the generic versions of Lipex (simvastatin) and Losec (omeprazole).
Betaloc to be fully funded
The previous agreement between Pharmac and AstraZeneca over Betaloc CR ended in June 2007. Negotiations since then have been fraught and, at one point, sparked a complaint to the Commerce Commission, dismissed by the Supreme Court last week.
AstraZeneca put the price of Betaloc CR up 20 per cent in October 2007.
AstraZeneca had been seeking a sole-supply agreement, but Pharmac was waiting for a cheaper generic version to be released onto the market.
As a result of the price rise, Pharmac introduced a part charge for Betaloc for all patients except those meeting certain criteria as confirmed by a GP or pharmacist in an “endorsement”.
As of tomorrow [1 September], the endorsement restriction will be lifted from Betaloc CR meaning it is fully subsidised for all patients.
The drug will have subsidy and delisting protection until 31 January 2012.
No special authority for Zoladex
As part of the same agreement with AstraZeneca, a special authority will no longer be required for an intravenous drug used for breast and prostate cancer, Zoladex.
It will have subsidy and delisting protection until 30 June 2013.
Millions of taxpayer dollars saved
AstraZeneca has agreed to a series of price reductions on both drugs running through to 1 July 2010, which means Pharmac is reducing the subsidies.
Pharmac notified the agreement on 12 August, but won’t comment until later this week.
Pharmac is reported in the National Business Review (28 August) as saying the agreements will save taxpayers $60 million.
AstraZeneca’s chief financial officer, Liz Davies, says the price reductions it has agreed to will save taxpayers around $24 million for Betaloc and $1 million for Zoladex in the period to 31 January 2012 .
With around 200,000 people currently taking Betaloc CR for angina, hypertension and heart failure, the deal means GPs will not have to manage another switch from a drug that’s popular with patients to a cheaper generic, Ms West says.
Pharmac’s notification also says the drug-buying agency will reduce its subsidy for the fully funded generic version, AFT-Metaprolol CR, to the same level as Betaloc CR by 1 July 2010 through reference pricing, which effectively forces AFT to lower its price to match that of its sole competitor.
Supreme Court decision coincidental
Ms Davies says the new agreement was signed before the Supreme Court decision came out even though the two have been linked.
The 26 August Supreme Court decision dismissed a Commerce Commission attempt to investigate AstraZeneca over allegedly tying its negotiations over Betaloc CR to its supply of a critical hospital drug, the IV form of Betaloc (New Zealand Doctor, 15 August 2007).
Not only was tying unlikely but an exemption to the Commerce Act allows certain anticompetitive behaviours where drug companies are seeking an agreement with Pharmac.
Related links
Pharmac’s notification of the agreement
Supreme Court decision
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