AstraZeneca has asked the New Zealand High Court to review a decision by Pharmac, the government drug purchasing agency, to reduce its subsidy for the Symbicort Turbuhaler to achieve pricing parity with GSK’s Seretide (Advair) Diskus inhaler. Since the imposition of parity pricing, new patients in New Zealand have had to pay a minimum $3 co-payment (about $2.30 in US dollars) for Symbicort and other AstraZeneca inhalers. Patients already using the inhalers have a grace period until February 2012 before having to pay for the products.
The company is arguing that the co-payment will encourage doctors to prescribe separate maintenance and reliever inhalers instead of keeping patients on its combination inhaler. Pharmac, according to reports, sees no problem with asking patients to use two inhalers and anticipates a savings of $1.5 million per year out of the $60 million (NZD) it spends on inhalers annually.
Read a Radio New Zealand report.
