Pharmac wants to say a clear 'No'

New Zealand funding body Pharmac has proposed changes to the way it funds drugs, which will allow it to decline certain applications for funding.

The changes to how medicine funding applications are managed on the Options for Investment (OFI) list would allow Pharmac to decline applications that have remained in the lowest-ranked group for more than two years.

It would apply to the bottom 20 per cent of applications if there are more than 100 on the list, or the bottom 10 per cent if there are less than a hundred. In September there were 115 applications on the list. Pharmac doesn't disclose where each medicine is ranked on the list, as it is commercially sensitive and could affect negotiations.