Today we hold an auction for the medicines Sunitinib 12.5 mg or Pazopanib 400 mg in the Prozorro system. The potential winner – global producer of the pharmaceutical goods that will deliver one of this medicines – Sunitinib.
The planned price for the medicines was - 311,7 mln UAH, whereas the winner’s proposal was - 175 mln UAH. The estimated economy on this tender is 135 mln UAH or 43% from the estimated price.
The purchased medicines aimed to be procured for the adult cancer patients, in particular for the treatment of the kidney cancer. Pazopanib is used for the treatment of the 4th stage of cancer whereas Sunitinib is used for all cancer stages. Due to the today's procurement all patients that undergo the therapy at all stages of the kidney's cancer will be covered with treatment.
This procedure was particularly important for us for the number of reasons:
- This procedure was one of the most expensive, among all the others goods that we procure for the MoH’s programmes. It is because of this the economy of 43% or 135 mln UAH is rather tangible;
- It is for the first time such medicines are procured for the state’s funds. Previously, the patients with the kidney cancer purchased these treatments with their private money. Each of these medicines is expensive. They also cannot be easily purchased in the pharmacies. Very often patients or their families bought the medicines abroad. In 2020 it is the first time when all patients that receive treatment from the kidney cancer will receive this medicine for free;
- The nomenclature that was approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, united these two drugs into one procedure. Therefore, it was an additional challenge for the procurement procedure. We carefully prepared this tender in order to take into account this non-standard practice. In the end, we were able to find the optimal solution;
- This procedure had a claim reviewed in the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU). The subject of this complain was the division of Sunitinib and Pazopanib into two different procedures. However, it was not satisfied. Interestingly, it was the complainant who now became the potential winner of the auction;
- Both of these medicines - non-competitive ones. This means that one of the two producers is the monopolist with its product. It is for the procedure to be competitive, both moleculas were united in one tender by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Thus, manufacturers were forced to compete. It was the competition that ensured the cut of the price in almost twice;
- As this medicine is almost not presented in the pharmacies, winning in our auction provides the producer with the main order for this medicine in Ukraine
This tender once again demonstrated the efficiency of the SE “Medical Procurement of Ukraine as the national procurement organization in healthcare. Background work with the producers, careful preparatory work connected preparation of the tender documentation and agreements, gave us the possibility to save money of the taxpayers and cover 100% of the patients with the kidney cancer with treatment.