Declining inactive funding applications

How we define an inactive application

'Inactive’ means that we are not actively doing any work to progress the application. This may be because our advisors recommend we decline the application or the application will not give any additional benefit over already funded medicines. 

We used to keep all inactive applications open. However, people told us that they wanted Pharmac to make final decisions, even if this meant declining the application. 

By closing inactive applications, we are providing more clarity about which medicines we are actively considering for funding.

How we prioritise applications

Why does Pharmac decline an application

We may decline applications when:

• our expert clinical advisors have recommended we do
• other medicines for the same condition are now funded making the funding application no longer relevant
• our expert clinical advisors say that the medicine would give no extra benefits over other treatments we already fund
• no-one has made an application to Medsafe to have the medicine approved
• no company is willing to supply the medicine in New Zealand.

We do not decline a funding application lightly. Before we decline any application, we consult with health professionals, patient advocacy groups, and suppliers. 

You can subscribe to updates about all our consultations and decisions

We can re-open closed applications if we get new information that changes the priority of the medicine.

Declined applications

Since 2019, we have proposed to decline over 600 applications over 7 consultations. After feedback on our proposals, about 500 were closed and fewer than 100 are still being considered for funding. 

Most recent decision

18 June 2025 | Decision to decline inactive funding applications

Decisions on earlier consultations:

30 July 2024 | Decision to decline inactive funding applications

7 November 2023 | Decision to decline inactive application

8 March 2022 | Decision to decline inactive applications

15 March 2021 | Decision to decline inactive applications

20 February 2020 | Decision to decline inactive applications

22 July 2019 | Decision to decline inactive applications

Definition of "an application"

An application is a request to fund a medicine to treat a specific condition. Some medicines have more than one application, each one to treat a different condition or for a different use. We may decline to fund a medicine for some conditions but keep it on the list for a different use. We rely on clinical advice to inform these decisions. 

Learn more

You can find the status of all applications in Application Tracker. Search for any application you're interested in and see where it's at.