Pharmac's set-up risks higher health costs: medicines research

New Zealand's spending on modern pharmaceuticals sits far below comparable OECD countries. (Image: NZIER for Medicines NZ)

Pattrick Smellie

Thu, 23 Oct 2025

The Government's drug-buying agency, Pharmac, is being criticised for its inability to drive hard bargains with Big Pharma, which may be restricting New Zealanders’ access to modern medicines and driving demand for high-cost hospital care.Those are primary conclusions of research for Medicines New Zealand by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), examining why NZ’s national pharmaceutical spend is among the lowest in the rich countries club, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).The study concl...

Subscribe to BusinessDesk

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.

Deeply researched, twice-edited and fact-checked news
Annual subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to The Wall Street Journal
Personalised email news alerts, plus gift up to 5 stories a month to non-subscribers

You can cancel anytime with two clicks, an email or a phone call.
Find out more.

We are serious about journalism.

Already a Subscriber ? Sign in here.

Name {{ registerForm.errors.get('name') }}

Email address {{ registerForm.errors.get('email') }}

Phone Number {{ registerForm.errors.get('phone') }}

Job Title {{ registerForm.errors.get('title') }}

Password Minimum password length of 8 characters.
Require at least one upper and lowercase, numeric, and special character. {{ registerForm.errors.get('password') }}

Repeat password {{ registerForm.errors.get('password_confirmation') }}

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Credit Card

Cardholder's name

{{ __(plans[index].name) | capitalize }} {{ plans[index].attributes.old_price | currency }} {{ plans[index].price | currency }}

All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service

{{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}

Infrastructure

Eaqub: Pipeline hits $275b but certainty stops at next election

Economist highlights drop-off in planned infra spending after 2026.

Dileepa Fonseka 5:00am

Retail

ForBarr sticks to underperform on The Warehouse Group

Analysts say they need to see tangible improvement.

Rebecca Howard 5:00am

ForBarr sticks to underperform on The Warehouse Group

Opinion

Peter Griffin: AI is reshaping work – but not the way you think

AI isn’t the job killer many predicted it would become.

Peter Griffin 5:00am

AI is reshaping work – but not the way you think

Sponsored

Cybersecurity skills gap leaving Kiwi businesses at risk - report

A cybersecurity skills shortage is creating additional cyber risks, according to a new global report.

Fortinet

Sponsored

Spark’s partner strategy sets the bar for innovation

Spark

More Economy

Economy

No obstacles to RBNZ rate cut next week

The RBNZ is expected to cut the OCR to 2.25% and leave the door open for more.

Rebecca Howard 18 Nov 2025

Economy

Food prices lift 4.7% in 12 months to October

Food prices increased by 4.7% in the 12 months to October, although they fell for the second consecutive month, down 0.3% due to lower vegetable prices.Higher prices for the grocery food group were the largest contributor, up 4.9% on an annual basis, while meat, poultry and fish...

Staff reporters 17 Nov 2025