Updated Guide Promotes Better Understanding of PHARMAC Drug Assessments

New Zealand’s Pharmaceutical Management Agency (PHARMAC) recently published an updated version of its Prescription for Pharmacoeconomic Analysis, which explains the agency’s drug assessment process.

In developing the update, officials sought advice from economists, the pharmaceutical industry, doctors and consumers both in New Zealand and abroad.

Matthew Brougham, PHARMAC’s acting chief executive, said that the document will help the pharmaceutical industry in creating economic analyses to justify the funding of new drug applications.

The most significant change is a reduction in the discount rate PHARMAC uses to assess the future value of funding decisions. Under the revised document, a discount rate of 3.5 percent will be used, compared with the previous rate of 8 percent.