Decision to approve agreement for medical devices supplied by ESL Biosciences

Hospital devices Decision

What we’re doing

We are pleased to announce the approval of a listing agreement with ESL Biosciences (New Zealand) Limited (“ESL Biosciences”) for supply of medical devices in the laboratory equipment and consumables category to Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora (“Health NZ”).

In summary this will result in:

  • ESL Biosciences’ laboratory equipment and consumables being listed in Part III of Section H of the Pharmaceutical Schedule from 1 September 2025 under a national agreement that all Health NZ hospitals may purchase under; and
  • Health NZ hospitals being able to purchase other suppliers’ brands of laboratory equipment and consumables as the agreement is not for sole supply.

Any changes to the original proposal?

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 1 July 2025. No changes were made to the original proposal following consultation.

Who we think will be most interested

  • Health NZ staff including but not limited to:
    • Clinicians
    • Clinical engineers and maintenance services
    • Laboratory managers, scientists, technicians and other laboratory staff
    • Nurses
    • Pathologists
    • Procurement and supply chain personnel
  • Suppliers and wholesalers

Detail about this decision

In September 2018 Pharmac released a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) for Laboratory equipment and consumables. The RFP was for non-exclusive national agreements for listing on the Pharmaceutical Schedule.

 

Pharmac has been working with suppliers who responded to the RFP and were successful in being progressed to contract negotiation to seek provisional agreements. This is the latest proposal to arise from this process.

The list of products will be available on Pharmac’s website from 1 September 2025 in both PDF and Excel formats.

Our response to what you told us

We’re really grateful for the time people took to respond to this consultation. During consultation Health NZ sought clarification on pricing and terms included in the proposal. Pharmac engaged with Health NZ to provide this clarification. No changes were made to terms or pricing following the consultation. 

If you have any questions about this decision, you can email us at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz; or call our toll free number (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) on 0800 660 050.