The practice of preferring to use one major supplier of generic medicines based on an ability to supply a full product range, and tying higher pharmacy margins to the supply of 'bundles' of generic medicines which include high-volume products, will be challenged in the market place following the expected acceptance by government of a Ranbaxy Australia proposal to slash the cost to government of simvastatin by 20 per cent from August 2007. The Ranbaxy proposal, as first reported exclusively in the Editorial (p10) and Capital Hill (p14) columns of the AJP's May edition, is set to be initiated one year before a mandatory 25 per cent cut to all 'me-too' products within the F2t formulary of PBS medicines and has raised major concerns within pharmacy that remuneration will be compromised.
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