Medicines Amendment Bill passes third reading

Associate Health Minister David Seymour is welcoming the passing of the Medicines Amendment Bill at third reading. The Bill enables the 'Rule of Two', allowing medicines to be approved within 30 days if the product has approval from two recognised overseas jurisdictions.

"Faster access to medicines has always been a priority for patients. For many New Zealanders, pharmaceuticals are life or death, or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely," Mr Seymour says.

"This change will increase access to medicines for Kiwis by introducing a streamlined verification pathway for medicines. People will access new treatments more quickly. This is committed to in the ACT-National and National-NZ First coalition agreements.

"During Covid it was embarrassing that Kiwis had to wait for medicines other countries already had. Living in New Zealand should never be a disadvantage. I'm fixing that. From now, if a medicine is available in two of the countries below, it can be consented within 30 days."

The policy is starting with Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Singapore and Switzerland, as recognised countries. These are the main countries Medsafe currently recognises.

"New cars are acceptable for the New Zealand market if they meet at least one of several foreign standards. We are applying the same principle to medicines. If other jurisdictions have already done the work and can ensure the products' safety, we won't delay patients' access by doing the exact same tests," Mr Seymour says.

"This is a common-sense efficiency that costs nothing. It helps Kiwis in need. It can shave months off the approval process. A perfect example of this was with a treatment for asthma which could have been approved by the end of 2022 under this pathway but was not approved until 16 months later in May 2024.

"Increasing medicines access is a government priority because it leads to better patient outcomes. So far, we have:

• Changed Pharmac's process so it can assess a funding application at the same time as Medsafe is assessing the application for regulatory approval
• Allocated Pharmac its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, and a $604 million uplift to give Pharmac the financial support it needs to carry out its functions - negotiating the best deals for medicine for New Zealanders
• Made patient voice a crucial consideration in Pharmac's funding decisions
• Put pseudoephedrine back on the shelves of pharmacies
• Funded access to 66 additional medicines benefitting over 200,000 New Zealanders in the first year of funding
• Pushed Pharmac to consider the societal impacts of funding or not funding a medicine

"We're committed to ensuring that the regulatory system for pharmaceuticals is not unreasonably holding back access. It will lead to more Kiwis being able to access the medicines they need to live a fulfilling life."