20 October 2021
Micky Turner
Via email: [FYI request #16849 email]
Dear Micky
Request for information: Information about the decision to fund remdesivir for COVID-
19
Thank you for your request dated 23 September 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982
(OIA) for information relating to our decision to fund remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-
19. You requested:
All information on Pharmac's decision to fund Remdesivir for the treatment of Covid
19
Please find documents about the decision to fund remdesivir attached with this letter.
Please note, there is no minute of the decision to approve the memo of September 2020 for
the procurement of emergency stock of remdesivir for use in New Zealand as the decision
was granted by electronic approval of the memo. The minute of the decision to approve the
memo for the procurement of additional stock of remdesivir for use in New Zealand, dated
September 2021, is included with the documents released.
Additionally, please note that we approach our assessment of requests for information under
the OIA on the basis that once we release the information to you it becomes available to any
other party in that exact form (whether by you distributing it to others or by virtue of us
receiving the same request from a different third party).
We have redacted a small amount of information from, or withheld, documents where we
consider this is necessary to:
protect the privacy of natural persons (section 9(2)(a))
protect information where the making available of the information would be likely to
unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the
subject of the information (section 9(2)(b)(ii))
protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any person
has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any enactment, where
the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar
information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such
information should continue to be supplied (section 9(2)(ba)(i))
enable PHARMAC to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations, including
commercial negotiations (section 9(2)(j)).
2021-22-036; A1530026
As required under the OIA, we also considered whether, in the circumstances, the
withholding of this information was outweighed by other considerations which render it
desirable, in the public interest, to make this information available. In this case we did not
consider that the public interest outweighed the reasons for withholding the information.
Please note you have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(3) of the OIA to an
Ombudsman, to seek an investigation and review of our decision.
We trust that this information answers your queries. We are making our information more
freely available, so we now publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on
our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this.
Yours sincerely
Rachel Read
Manager, Policy and Government Services
2021-22-036; A1530026
qA60224
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