Pharmac pledges flu vaccine review

Pharmac will undertake a review into its flu vaccine buying system after the country was left with insufficient supplies.


It has been in the firing line after the purchase of an under-strength vaccine batch from French company Sanofi Pasteur.

The Ministry of Health and government drug-buying agency Pharmac purchased this year's vaccine through Merck Sharpe and Dohme, but Australian tests later identified the immunisation capability was lacking for one of the three strains of influenza it was designed to protect against.

It is the first time Pharmac has purchased the vaccine on the Government's behalf, having taken over the role from the Ministry of Health, and it continued the tradition of allocating sole supply to the one company.

Pharmac considers the system is the best way to get a guaranteed supply at the best price.

Several Southern Hemisphere countries with the same policy have also been caught out by the bungle.

However, Australia was able to overcome the problem because it had a second supplier.

Pharmac chief executive Wayne McNee said in a statement today other purchasing options would now be explored, including the choice of supplier and whether to allocate supply to more than one company.

"Other countries use other purchasing models -- for example in Australia there are two suppliers of subsidised vaccine," he said.

"However, we have to bear in mind the size differential between Australia and New Zealand, and there may continue to be advantages in choosing just one supplier for New Zealand," Mr McNee said.

He confirmed the error did not incur any additional costs to the Government, and the current contract would see all additional costs met by the supplier.

When making the Sanofi/Merck Sharpe Dohme bid for the vaccine, Mr McNee said Pharmac considered the company's record, the quality of its products and its commitment to the New Zealand market.

"We were satisfied that it would be able to make the product to the requirements laid down by the World Health Organisation, and provide adequate supply for New Zealand," Mr McNee said.

Sanofi is the world's largest supplier of flu vaccine, with about 40 per cent of the global market.

- NZPA