The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7490 p204
23 February 2008

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News summary

AZ rebates amended with Drug Tariff change

Certain AstraZeneca products that pharmacists no longer receive discount for under its direct-to-pharmacy scheme are to be added to the Drug Tariff’s “list of drugs for which discount is not deducted” from 1 March 2008.

AstraZeneca will subsequently exclude these items (see Panel right) from its calculations of monthly rebates for customers, but has committed to reduce the level of purchase required to obtain a rebate so that the change is cost neutral to pharmacy.

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee chief executive Sue Sharpe said: “We are continuing to work with the Department of Health to address other instances where medicines are dispensed at a loss and the PSNC hopes they can be resolved in the near future.”

She added that the evaluation of the purchase profit income available to pharmacies takes account of the prices of both generic and branded medicines so that adjustments can be made to the pharmacy funding arrangements to reflect any losses.