The opportunity
2/2 · Clear, recurring pain
Czech hospitals buy most medicines alone, and a state audit found some paying over 3 times what others paid.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- 15 public buyers published 106 medicine notices in nine weeks of 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- In 2014–2016 an antibiotic cost one hospital 956 CZK a pack, another 3,300.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- In 2024 the state auditor said it finds most failings in medicine buying.transparency.czTransparency International — medicines named the worst procurement area (another site)At a round table on corruption risk in hospital procurement, the supreme audit office said the largest volume of failings it finds sits in medicines and medicine buying, done often without proper competition.In the source’s words“Za nás nejvíce pochybení dochází v oblasti léčiv a nákupu léků. To pochybení je v jejich samotném nákupu, ke kterému často dochází bez řádné soutěže, tedy napřímou”
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
The opportunity
About this section
- What this shows
- The problem as it is today: what goes wrong, and who it costs.
- Why it matters to a builder
- Documented pain means you will not have to convince buyers the problem exists before you can sell them the fix.
- How to read the score
- 2/2 means clear, recurring pain: documented complaints, a petition or industry pressure. Scattered complaints make it 1/2.
Czech hospitals buy most medicines alone, and a state audit found some paying over 3 times what others paid.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- 15 public buyers published 106 medicine notices in nine weeks of 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- In 2014–2016 an antibiotic cost one hospital 956 CZK a pack, another 3,300.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- In 2024 the state auditor said it finds most failings in medicine buying.transparency.czTransparency International — medicines named the worst procurement area (another site)At a round table on corruption risk in hospital procurement, the supreme audit office said the largest volume of failings it finds sits in medicines and medicine buying, done often without proper competition.In the source’s words“Za nás nejvíce pochybení dochází v oblasti léčiv a nákupu léků. To pochybení je v jejich samotném nákupu, ke kterému často dochází bez řádné soutěže, tedy napřímou”
The notices came out between 6 July and 2 September 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ” Each runs under a dynamic purchasing system: a standing list of approved suppliers that the hospital asks again for every order.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ” Four hospitals ran most of them:
- Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, Prague's general university hospital, ran 38.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ” It keeps separate systems for drug classes such as anti-clotting drugs, immune-suppressing drugs and cancer drugs.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, the university hospital in Olomouc, ran 24.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, 24 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Olomouc's university hospital ran its own parallel dynamic purchasing system for medicine supply, one of 24 such notices from that buyer alone in the same nine weeks.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků”
- Fakultní nemocnice Bulovka, a third Prague teaching hospital, ran 16, for medicines, nutrition and selected medical devices.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Bulovka, 16 medicine purchasing systems (another site)A third Prague teaching hospital running its own separate system for medicines, nutrition and selected devices — 16 notices from this buyer in nine weeks.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM NA DODÁVKY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ, VÝŽIV A VYBRANÝCH ZDRAVOTNICKÝCH PROSTŘEDKŮ”
- Motol and Homolka, two merged Prague hospitals that buy as one, ran 10.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Motol a Homolka, 10 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's merged mega-buyer opened a call for a single antifungal molecule under its own dynamic purchasing system — one of 10 notices from this buyer in the same window.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antimycotics for systemic use – Výzva č. 274 - Anidulafungin – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků” One of them was call No. 274, for a single antifungal drug.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Motol a Homolka, 10 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's merged mega-buyer opened a call for a single antifungal molecule under its own dynamic purchasing system — one of 10 notices from this buyer in the same window.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antimycotics for systemic use – Výzva č. 274 - Anidulafungin – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků”
- 90 of the 106 notices also name the supplier that won.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- In September 2026 Olomouc's and Hradec Králové's university hospitals each went to market alone for lenvatinib, a cancer drug.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, lenvatinib on its own (~20.9M CZK estimated) (another site)Olomouc's university hospital opened its own call for lenvatinib, a cancer drug, in September 2026: three years of supply in three lots, bids due 13 October 2026.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents – LP s obsahem lenvatinibu 2026”TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, lenvatinib on its own (~10.4M CZK awarded) (another site)Hradec Králové's university hospital awarded its own four-year lenvatinib supply to two wholesalers, published the same month Olomouc opened its separate call for the same drug.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – Léčivé přípravky s obsahem lenvatinibu”
- Olomouc's call covers three years in three lots.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, lenvatinib on its own (~20.9M CZK estimated) (another site)Olomouc's university hospital opened its own call for lenvatinib, a cancer drug, in September 2026: three years of supply in three lots, bids due 13 October 2026.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents – LP s obsahem lenvatinibu 2026” Hradec Králové's award covers four years, split between two wholesalers.TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, lenvatinib on its own (~10.4M CZK awarded) (another site)Hradec Králové's university hospital awarded its own four-year lenvatinib supply to two wholesalers, published the same month Olomouc opened its separate call for the same drug.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – Léčivé přípravky s obsahem lenvatinibu”
- Hospitals also buy lab reagents one by one, each tied to an analyser the supplier lends: nine hospitals published ten such notices on 9–18 September 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Hradec Králové university hospital, reagents with a lent biochemistry analyser (140M CZK estimated) (another site)Hradec Králové's university hospital tendered six years of lab consumables with the loan of the analyser that uses them, one of ten such calls from nine hospitals in ten September days.In the source’s words“Czechia – Diagnostic agents – Výpůjčka biochemického analyzátoru, včetně dodávky spotřebního materiálu a servisního zabezpečení — 140000000 CZK”
- On 21 September 2026 two Prague teaching hospitals opened one purchase covering 28 medicines, an active substance to a lot.TEDted.europa.euTED — Bulovka and Královské Vinohrady, 28 medicines bought together (another site)Two Prague teaching hospitals opened one purchase covering 28 medicines, one active substance to a lot, estimated together at about 2.5bn CZK.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Dodávky LP - společný nákup”
- In the same days two Brno teaching hospitals each bought on their own a substance that joint purchase also covers.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — St Anne's in Brno buys guselkumab on its own (another site)A Brno teaching hospital awarded a guselkumab contract by itself five days before two Prague hospitals put the same substance into their joint purchase.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – L04AC16 GUSELKUMAB”TEDted.europa.euTED — Brno university hospital tenders ustekinumab on its own (another site)Brno's university hospital opened its own ustekinumab tender in the same week that two Prague hospitals put the same substance into their joint purchase.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Léčivé přípravky s účinnou látkou USTEKINUMAB II.”
- A regional hospital group runs a standing purchasing system for medicines of its own, and awarded a two-year supply of one drug under it in September 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Krajská zdravotní's own standing system for medicines (another site)A regional hospital group runs its own standing purchasing system for medicines and awarded a two-year framework for a single drug under it.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků - 5123”
The state keeps finding what this costs:
- The supreme audit office, the state's auditor, checked three university hospitals over 2014–2016 and published its findings in 2018.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.” It found them buying medicines very often by direct order, without a tender.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- The antibiotic above was meropenem.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.” For another antibiotic, piperacillin with tazobactam, one hospital paid 385 CZK a pack and another 2,103 CZK, both from the same supplier.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- Bonuses from suppliers to the three hospitals, for medicines and medical supplies, came to about 1bn CZK over those years.nku.czNKÚ audit 17/19 — the same antibiotic at 956 and at 3,300 CZK (another site)The supreme audit office found three university hospitals buying medicines very often by direct order without any tender, and paying sharply different prices to the same supplier for identical products.In the source’s words“Například lék MEROPENEM KABI nakupovala ÚVN po 956 korunách za balení, FNB jej pak pořizovala za 3 300 korun za balení.”
- At a 2024 round table on corruption risk in hospital buying, reported by Transparency International, the audit office said medicines are often bought directly, without proper competition.transparency.czTransparency International — medicines named the worst procurement area (another site)At a round table on corruption risk in hospital procurement, the supreme audit office said the largest volume of failings it finds sits in medicines and medicine buying, done often without proper competition.In the source’s words“Za nás nejvíce pochybení dochází v oblasti léčiv a nákupu léků. To pochybení je v jejich samotném nákupu, ke kterému často dochází bez řádné soutěže, tedy napřímou” Another speaker put the share of drug purchases that go through a tender at about 60 percent.transparency.czTransparency International — medicines named the worst procurement area (another site)At a round table on corruption risk in hospital procurement, the supreme audit office said the largest volume of failings it finds sits in medicines and medicine buying, done often without proper competition.In the source’s words“Za nás nejvíce pochybení dochází v oblasti léčiv a nákupu léků. To pochybení je v jejich samotném nákupu, ke kterému často dochází bez řádné soutěže, tedy napřímou”
- In 2022 the competition authority, which oversees public buying, wrote hospitals a guide to buying medicines, because it meets the problem ever more often.uohs.gov.czÚOHS — a manual for hospitals because the problem keeps arriving (another site)The competition authority published guidance on buying medicines because it meets the problem ever more often, and acknowledged that delivery clocks measured in hours have to be reconciled with a procurement procedure.In the source’s words“se při své rozhodovací i metodické činnosti stále častěji setkává s problematikou nákupu léčivých přípravků”
- In September 2026 the health ministry's draft payment rules for 2027 found that hospitals' purchasing departments differ widely in what they save on specialist-centre drugs.VeKLEPodok.czDraft reimbursement decree for 2027 — centre drugs bought up to 7bn CZK below the billed price at best practice (another site)The health ministry's draft reimbursement decree for 2027, open for comment until 23 September 2026, compares what hospitals paid for specialist-centre drugs with what they billed, finds their purchasing departments differ widely, and cuts insurers' payments for those drugs by a price-discount index.In the source’s words“V případě, že by všichni poskytovatelé nakupovali za pořizovací ceny dle „best practice“, dosahovaly by úspory až 7 mld. Kč.”
- On average hospitals buy those drugs about 4bn CZK below the price they bill the insurers; if every hospital bought as cheaply as the best, the gap would be up to 7bn CZK.VeKLEPodok.czDraft reimbursement decree for 2027 — centre drugs bought up to 7bn CZK below the billed price at best practice (another site)The health ministry's draft reimbursement decree for 2027, open for comment until 23 September 2026, compares what hospitals paid for specialist-centre drugs with what they billed, finds their purchasing departments differ widely, and cuts insurers' payments for those drugs by a price-discount index.In the source’s words“V případě, že by všichni poskytovatelé nakupovali za pořizovací ceny dle „best practice“, dosahovaly by úspory až 7 mld. Kč.”
Suggested solution
Build a price-comparison service where hospital pharmacies share what they paid.
Why now
1/3 · Soft deadline
Since January 2026 insurers may buy specialist-centre drugs in one tender, and once they do, a hospital buying that drug alone is not reimbursed.e-Sbírkae-sbirka.gov.czZákon 289/2025 Sb. — health insurers may tender centre medicines centrally (another site)The amendment of the public health insurance act that took effect on 1 January 2026 and carries the power for insurers to run central tenders for medicines used in specialised-care centres.
- The national health insurer paid 22.5bn CZK for specialist-centre drugs in 2024.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
- It puts the grey-zone bonuses suppliers pay hospitals at about 3.5bn CZK.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
- Some medicines are needed within hours, yet the law requires a purchasing procedure.uohs.gov.czÚOHS — a manual for hospitals because the problem keeps arriving (another site)The competition authority published guidance on buying medicines because it meets the problem ever more often, and acknowledged that delivery clocks measured in hours have to be reconciled with a procurement procedure.In the source’s words“se při své rozhodovací i metodické činnosti stále častěji setkává s problematikou nákupu léčivých přípravků”
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Why now
About this section
- What this shows
- The dated rules and events that push buyers to act, soonest first.
- Why it matters to a builder
- A dated rule turns “nice to have” into “must buy by”, and tells you how long the window stays open.
- How to read the score
- 3/3 means an enacted rule binds these buyers within 18 months and names a penalty. Without a named penalty it is 2/3. A draft law, a rule on someone else, or a date further out is 1/3.
Since January 2026 insurers may buy specialist-centre drugs in one tender, and once they do, a hospital buying that drug alone is not reimbursed.e-Sbírkae-sbirka.gov.czZákon 289/2025 Sb. — health insurers may tender centre medicines centrally (another site)The amendment of the public health insurance act that took effect on 1 January 2026 and carries the power for insurers to run central tenders for medicines used in specialised-care centres.
- The national health insurer paid 22.5bn CZK for specialist-centre drugs in 2024.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
- It puts the grey-zone bonuses suppliers pay hospitals at about 3.5bn CZK.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
- Some medicines are needed within hours, yet the law requires a purchasing procedure.uohs.gov.czÚOHS — a manual for hospitals because the problem keeps arriving (another site)The competition authority published guidance on buying medicines because it meets the problem ever more often, and acknowledged that delivery clocks measured in hours have to be reconciled with a procurement procedure.In the source’s words“se při své rozhodovací i metodické činnosti stále častěji setkává s problematikou nákupu léčivých přípravků”
Since 1 January 2026 three rules have changed, and in July the health ministry agreed to try joint buying again:
- On 1 January 2026 an amendment to the public health insurance law, Act No. 289/2025, let health insurers tender medicines centrally for hospitals the state has named centres of highly specialised care.e-Sbírkae-sbirka.gov.czZákon 289/2025 Sb. — health insurers may tender centre medicines centrally (another site)The amendment of the public health insurance act that took effect on 1 January 2026 and carries the power for insurers to run central tenders for medicines used in specialised-care centres.
- The rule covers a drug that is the only registered product with its active ingredient, and that is billed with a treatment or used only on hospital wards.e-Sbírkae-sbirka.gov.czZákon 289/2025 Sb. — health insurers may tender centre medicines centrally (another site)The amendment of the public health insurance act that took effect on 1 January 2026 and carries the power for insurers to run central tenders for medicines used in specialised-care centres.
- The insurer then pays the hospital the price its tender reached, and does not pay a hospital that bought the drug outside that tender.e-Sbírkae-sbirka.gov.czZákon 289/2025 Sb. — health insurers may tender centre medicines centrally (another site)The amendment of the public health insurance act that took effect on 1 January 2026 and carries the power for insurers to run central tenders for medicines used in specialised-care centres. No insurer is known to have run such a tender yet.
- The national insurer argued for this power in March 2025, saying each hospital now tenders these drugs differently and to a different standard.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
- On 1 January 2026 a health ministry price ruling also stopped applying the split trade margin, a mark-up the ministry regulates, to medicines used only in hospitals.MZdmzd.gov.czCenový výměr 1/2026/OLZP — the split trade margin drops off hospital medicines (another site)The health ministry price ruling in force from 1 January 2026 stops applying the split trade margin to purely hospital medicinal products — the economics of the goods these notices buy changed on the same day.
- Since 2026 insurers also pay hospitals less for specialist-centre drugs, by an index read off the gap between what hospitals paid and what they billed.VeKLEPodok.czDraft reimbursement decree for 2027 — centre drugs bought up to 7bn CZK below the billed price at best practice (another site)The health ministry's draft reimbursement decree for 2027, open for comment until 23 September 2026, compares what hospitals paid for specialist-centre drugs with what they billed, finds their purchasing departments differ widely, and cuts insurers' payments for those drugs by a price-discount index.In the source’s words“V případě, že by všichni poskytovatelé nakupovali za pořizovací ceny dle „best practice“, dosahovaly by úspory až 7 mld. Kč.”
- A draft decree for 2027, open for comment until 23 September 2026, keeps that index with new values, saving insurers 2.2bn CZK, and tells specialists outside hospitals to buy cheaper, alone, in groups or with hospitals.VeKLEPodok.czDraft reimbursement decree for 2027 — centre drugs bought up to 7bn CZK below the billed price at best practice (another site)The health ministry's draft reimbursement decree for 2027, open for comment until 23 September 2026, compares what hospitals paid for specialist-centre drugs with what they billed, finds their purchasing departments differ widely, and cuts insurers' payments for those drugs by a price-discount index.In the source’s words“V případě, že by všichni poskytovatelé nakupovali za pořizovací ceny dle „best practice“, dosahovaly by úspory až 7 mld. Kč.”
- On 29 July 2026 the health ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what they could buy together.MZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and this time led by facility management.In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity” They are Motol, Královské Vinohrady, Bulovka and the general university hospital in Prague, and the university hospital and St Anne's in Brno.MZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and this time led by facility management.In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity”
- It is the ministry's second try: a 2018 pilot already covered selected medicines, with ten coordinated tenders planned and savings of tens of millions of crowns claimed.MZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and this time led by facility management.In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity” This time facility management leads, not medicines, and no deadline has been published.MZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and this time led by facility management.In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity”
Willing to pay
0/2 · No sign yet
Hospitals already pay a Czech firm to pool their buying, but what anyone would pay to compare prices is not known.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Ostrava's city hospital buys supplies through that firm and reports 21–34 percent savings.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Olomouc's university hospital has a paid contract with a purchasing-software maker.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Every crown in the hospitals' medicine notices buys medicines, not purchasing tools.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
One purchase
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Willing to pay
About this section
- What this shows
- Who already spends money on this problem, how much, and how they buy.
- Why it matters to a builder
- If people already pay for this, even by hand or through a consultant, you are replacing a spend, not creating a budget.
- How to read the score
- 2/2 means a Czech buyer has paid for this, or a priced job also gets public money that pays part of it. A price on file makes it 1/2. Public money alone earns nothing. Only public buyers publish what they pay, so problems sold to private firms often score lower.
Hospitals already pay a Czech firm to pool their buying, but what anyone would pay to compare prices is not known.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Ostrava's city hospital buys supplies through that firm and reports 21–34 percent savings.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Olomouc's university hospital has a paid contract with a purchasing-software maker.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- Every crown in the hospitals' medicine notices buys medicines, not purchasing tools.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
The bigger numbers around this problem buy the drugs themselves:
- Nine of the Prague general university hospital's notices repeat one 2bn CZK figure, which is the ceiling of its purchasing system, not money spent.TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- The national insurer's spending under Why now pays for the drugs, not for how they are bought.vzp.czVZP — 22.5bn CZK of centre medicines, over a 3.5bn CZK bonus grey zone (another site)The national health insurer's deputy director put its centre-medicine spend at 22.5bn CZK in one year and the grey zone of retrospective supplier bonuses at an estimated 3.5bn CZK, and argued for insurers tendering these medicines jointly.In the source’s words“U nás ve VZP to bylo za minulý rok 22,5 miliardy Kč u centrových léků”
What one medicine call costs a hospital in pharmacist and purchasing-staff hours is not known.
No open grant pays for this.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. The state's eHealth grant call, open to 2 December 2026, pays for clinical records that other systems can read, not for purchasing.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. A national recovery-plan call closed on 14 November 2024, and the business-digitisation programme admits only companies, so public hospitals cannot apply.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
One purchase
No price paid by a Czech buyer is on file yet.
Where to look
Registr smluv full-text for "eCENTRE" with "léčiv" or "elektronická aukce" — Městská nemocnice Ostrava's coordinated-purchasing contract is what a hospital already pays for pooled buying — and for "administrace dynamického nákupního systému" for what a hospital pays an outside administrator per purchasing system; otherwise ask the head pharmacist or procurement head of Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc what one medicine call costs in staff hours; the MS2021+ index under "léčiv" returns only drug research.
4 public tenders
Jul2026
Aug
Sep
Hospitals, schools and towns that put work out to tender in Jul 2026.
- €816k
- Prague's merged mega-buyer opened a call for a single antifungal molecule under its own dynamic purchasing system. TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Motol a Homolka, 10 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's merged mega-buyer opened a call for a single antifungal molecule under its own dynamic purchasing system — one of 10 notices from this buyer in the same window.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antimycotics for systemic use – Výzva č. 274 - Anidulafungin – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků”
- €461k
- Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class. TEDted.europa.euTED — Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, 38 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Prague's general university hospital published 38 separate medicine notices in nine weeks under dynamic purchasing systems split by drug class — antithrombotics, immunosuppressants, cancer drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM PRO PRŮBĚŽNÉ A OPAKOVANÉ NÁKUPY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ”
- €196k
- Olomouc's university hospital ran its own parallel dynamic purchasing system for medicine supply, one of 24 such notices from that buyer alone in the same nine weeks. TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, 24 medicine purchasing systems (another site)Olomouc's university hospital ran its own parallel dynamic purchasing system for medicine supply, one of 24 such notices from that buyer alone in the same nine weeks.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Dynamický nákupní systém na dodávky léčivých přípravků”
- €23k
- A third Prague teaching hospital running its own separate system for medicines, nutrition and selected devices. TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Bulovka, 16 medicine purchasing systems (another site)A third Prague teaching hospital running its own separate system for medicines, nutrition and selected devices — 16 notices from this buyer in nine weeks.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – DYNAMICKÝ NÁKUPNÍ SYSTÉM NA DODÁVKY LÉČIVÝCH PŘÍPRAVKŮ, VÝŽIV A VYBRANÝCH ZDRAVOTNICKÝCH PROSTŘEDKŮ”
Validated abroad
3/3 · Proven in 2+ markets
Companies in Germany, Britain and the US already sell pieces of the job: pooled medicine buying for hospitals, drug-tender matching and pharmacy purchasing software.3 sourcesvamstar.ioVamstar — the matching layer above the tender (another site)A London platform that pairs hospital, laboratory, insurer and group-purchasing drug tenders with suppliers, funded at Series A — the layer above the individual notice.In the source’s words“Vamstar, the leading AI-enabled global sourcing and procurement platform for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, closed its $9.5 million Series A…”prospitalia.deVivecti Group — a EUR 7bn German hospital buying block (another site)Prospitalia, trading since 1993, combined with Sana Einkauf in September 2025 to cover more than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume, clinic pharmacies explicitly…In the source’s words“Das Angebot umfasst Medizinprodukte, Verbrauchsmaterial, Investitionsgüter sowie die Bereiche Pharma und Labor.”spendmend.comTrulla — buyer-side pharmacy procurement software (another site)Cloud software letting a hospital system run pharmacy ordering, pricing, product standardisation and supplier selection across all its sites, founded 2018 and acquired by a healthcare spend firm four years…In the source’s words“In the last year, we've provided compliance and optimization services for over 300 pharmacies.”
- Vamstar (another site)Based in United Kingdom
- Vivecti Group (another site)Based in Germany
- Trulla (another site)Based in United States
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Validated abroad
About this section
- What this shows
- Companies abroad that already sell a solution, and how far along they are.
- Why it matters to a builder
- Established companies selling it in other markets show that buyers will pay, so you are not betting on an untested idea.
- How to read the score
- 3/3 means established in two or more markets, one of them near Czechia. 2/3 is one established company, 1/3 only early players.
Companies in Germany, Britain and the US already sell pieces of the job: pooled medicine buying for hospitals, drug-tender matching and pharmacy purchasing software.3 sourcesvamstar.ioVamstar — the matching layer above the tender (another site)A London platform that pairs hospital, laboratory, insurer and group-purchasing drug tenders with suppliers, funded at Series A — the layer above the individual notice.In the source’s words“Vamstar, the leading AI-enabled global sourcing and procurement platform for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, closed its $9.5 million Series A…”prospitalia.deVivecti Group — a EUR 7bn German hospital buying block (another site)Prospitalia, trading since 1993, combined with Sana Einkauf in September 2025 to cover more than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume, clinic pharmacies explicitly…In the source’s words“Das Angebot umfasst Medizinprodukte, Verbrauchsmaterial, Investitionsgüter sowie die Bereiche Pharma und Labor.”spendmend.comTrulla — buyer-side pharmacy procurement software (another site)Cloud software letting a hospital system run pharmacy ordering, pricing, product standardisation and supplier selection across all its sites, founded 2018 and acquired by a healthcare spend firm four years…In the source’s words“In the last year, we've provided compliance and optimization services for over 300 pharmacies.”
- vamstar.ioVamstar — the matching layer above the tender (another site)A London platform that pairs hospital, laboratory, insurer and group-purchasing drug tenders with suppliers, funded at Series A — the layer above the individual notice.In the source’s words“Vamstar, the leading AI-enabled global sourcing and procurement platform for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, closed its $9.5 million Series A funding round.”
USD 9.5m Series A closed June 2022, led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and Dutch Founders Fund with btov Partners and Antler (BusinessWire, 2022); sourcing platform pairing hospital, laboratory, insurer and group-purchasing drug tenders with suppliers
- prospitalia.deVivecti Group — a EUR 7bn German hospital buying block (another site)Prospitalia, trading since 1993, combined with Sana Einkauf in September 2025 to cover more than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume, clinic pharmacies explicitly included.In the source’s words“Das Angebot umfasst Medizinprodukte, Verbrauchsmaterial, Investitionsgüter sowie die Bereiche Pharma und Labor.”
More than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume after the September 2025 combination with Sana Einkauf (company release, 2025); Prospitalia alone served more than 1,300 clinics and clinic pharmacies
- spendmend.comTrulla — buyer-side pharmacy procurement software (another site)Cloud software letting a hospital system run pharmacy ordering, pricing, product standardisation and supplier selection across all its sites, founded 2018 and acquired by a healthcare spend firm four years later.In the source’s words“In the last year, we've provided compliance and optimization services for over 300 pharmacies.”
Over 300 pharmacy sites served in one year (company release, 2022); customers including Froedtert Health, which adopted it in June 2024; acquired by SpendMend in August 2022
In Germany a buying group trading since 1993 buys for more than 6,000 European healthcare providers, clinic pharmacies among them, and runs over €7bn of purchasing a year.prospitalia.deVivecti Group — a EUR 7bn German hospital buying block (another site)Prospitalia, trading since 1993, combined with Sana Einkauf in September 2025 to cover more than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume, clinic pharmacies explicitly included.In the source’s words“Das Angebot umfasst Medizinprodukte, Verbrauchsmaterial, Investitionsgüter sowie die Bereiche Pharma und Labor.” It reached that size by combining with another hospital buyer in September 2025; before that it served more than 1,300 clinics and clinic pharmacies.prospitalia.deVivecti Group — a EUR 7bn German hospital buying block (another site)Prospitalia, trading since 1993, combined with Sana Einkauf in September 2025 to cover more than 6,000 European healthcare providers and over EUR 7bn of annual purchasing volume, clinic pharmacies explicitly included.In the source’s words“Das Angebot umfasst Medizinprodukte, Verbrauchsmaterial, Investitionsgüter sowie die Bereiche Pharma und Labor.”
A London platform funded at Series A matches drug tenders from hospitals, laboratories, insurers and buying groups with suppliers.vamstar.ioVamstar — the matching layer above the tender (another site)A London platform that pairs hospital, laboratory, insurer and group-purchasing drug tenders with suppliers, funded at Series A — the layer above the individual notice.In the source’s words“Vamstar, the leading AI-enabled global sourcing and procurement platform for medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, closed its $9.5 million Series A funding round.” A US product lets a hospital system run pharmacy ordering, pricing and supplier choice across all its sites, and a healthcare spending firm bought it four years after it started.spendmend.comTrulla — buyer-side pharmacy procurement software (another site)Cloud software letting a hospital system run pharmacy ordering, pricing, product standardisation and supplier selection across all its sites, founded 2018 and acquired by a healthcare spend firm four years later.In the source’s words“In the last year, we've provided compliance and optimization services for over 300 pharmacies.”
Two more answers are not on the map, a public buyer and a cooperative:
- Denmark buys almost all medicines for its public hospitals through one body, Amgros, owned by the five regions that also own the hospitals.amgros.dkAmgros — Denmark buys its hospital medicines through one body (another site)Almost all medicines used in Danish public hospitals are procured by one organisation owned by the five regions that also own the hospitals; it reports nearly 10 billion Danish crowns of savings in 2024.In the source’s words“In 2024, we obtained cost savings amounting to nearly DKK 10 bn.” It reports nearly 10 billion Danish crowns of savings in 2024.amgros.dkAmgros — Denmark buys its hospital medicines through one body (another site)Almost all medicines used in Danish public hospitals are procured by one organisation owned by the five regions that also own the hospitals; it reports nearly 10 billion Danish crowns of savings in 2024.In the source’s words“In 2024, we obtained cost savings amounting to nearly DKK 10 bn.”
- Intrakoop, a Dutch care-purchasing cooperative founded in 1959, sells the price comparison itself rather than the buying: member pharmacies report volumes and prices, and each member sees whether it is overpaying.cooperatie.nlIntrakoop — the Dutch cooperative that benchmarks what members paid (another site)A care purchasing cooperative founded in 1959 whose member pharmacies report volumes and prices so members can see whether they are overpaying — the tool extended from care homes to hospitals.In the source’s words“Zo'n 550 zorgorganisaties met ruim 7.000 locaties maken gebruik van onze diensten” About 550 Dutch care organisations with more than 7,000 locations use its services.cooperatie.nlIntrakoop — the Dutch cooperative that benchmarks what members paid (another site)A care purchasing cooperative founded in 1959 whose member pharmacies report volumes and prices so members can see whether they are overpaying — the tool extended from care homes to hospitals.In the source’s words“Zo'n 550 zorgorganisaties met ruim 7.000 locaties maken gebruik van onze diensten”
Market gap
2/2 · Open
No Czech firm was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid; a Czech firm sells hospitals pooled buying instead.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
New, selling this: nobody on file. Established, selling this: nobody on file. New, selling something nearby: nobody on file. Established, selling something nearby: PROEBIZ (since 1996), QCM (E-ZAK) (since 2001), eCENTRE (since 2006), Tender systems (Tender arena, eGordion) (since 2012), ÚZIS (DRG Restart benchmarking) (since 2015). No established player sells this here.
The space is still open
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 1996PROEBIZ (another site)It sells JOSEPHINE and TENDERBOX, the e-procurement platforms used by Czech health buyers to publish and run their medicine purchasing procedures.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2001QCM (E-ZAK) (another site)It sells E-ZAK, the e-procurement system Fakultní nemocnice Brno runs its medicine purchasing systems on — again the filing surface, not the buying and not the price comparison.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2006eCENTRE (another site)It sells coordinated purchasing run through electronic auctions, pooling the demand of many public buyers into one negotiated contract, and it sells it to hospitals — with hospital customers including Ostrava's city hospital, which reports 21 percent savings on suture material, 34 percent on anaesthesia and oxygen-therapy supplies and 25 percent on infusion solutions.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2012Tender systems (Tender arena, eGordion) (another site)It sells Tender arena and eGordion, the two contracting-authority platforms used by Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, the largest buyer here, to publish its purchasing profile.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2015ÚZIS (DRG Restart benchmarking) (another site)The state health-statistics institute runs a cost benchmark across a contracted network of reference hospitals, comparing what each hospital case costs, not what each hospital paid for a medicine.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Market gap
About this section
- What this shows
- Czech companies that already sell this, and firms nearby that sell something else.
- Why it matters to a builder
- A mature Czech seller means taking customers from an incumbent. Firms nearby still matter: the buyer may already pay them.
- How to read the score
- More points mean a more open field. 2/2 means no Czech company sells this, 1/2 only early ones do, 0/2 a mature one does.
No Czech firm was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid; a Czech firm sells hospitals pooled buying instead.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
New, selling this: nobody on file. Established, selling this: nobody on file. New, selling something nearby: nobody on file. Established, selling something nearby: PROEBIZ (since 1996), QCM (E-ZAK) (since 2001), eCENTRE (since 2006), Tender systems (Tender arena, eGordion) (since 2012), ÚZIS (DRG Restart benchmarking) (since 2015). No established player sells this here.
The space is still open
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 1996PROEBIZ (another site)It sells JOSEPHINE and TENDERBOX, the e-procurement platforms used by Czech health buyers to publish and run their medicine purchasing procedures.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2001QCM (E-ZAK) (another site)It sells E-ZAK, the e-procurement system Fakultní nemocnice Brno runs its medicine purchasing systems on — again the filing surface, not the buying and not the price comparison.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2006eCENTRE (another site)It sells coordinated purchasing run through electronic auctions, pooling the demand of many public buyers into one negotiated contract, and it sells it to hospitals — with hospital customers including Ostrava's city hospital, which reports 21 percent savings on suture material, 34 percent on anaesthesia and oxygen-therapy supplies and 25 percent on infusion solutions.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2012Tender systems (Tender arena, eGordion) (another site)It sells Tender arena and eGordion, the two contracting-authority platforms used by Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, the largest buyer here, to publish its purchasing profile.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
- EstablishedSells something nearby · since 2015ÚZIS (DRG Restart benchmarking) (another site)The state health-statistics institute runs a cost benchmark across a contracted network of reference hospitals, comparing what each hospital case costs, not what each hospital paid for a medicine.Sources and the full note are in Read more.
Sells something nearby 5
- Established: eCENTRE (another site)Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
It sells coordinated purchasing run through electronic auctions, pooling the demand of many public buyers into one negotiated contract, and it sells it to hospitals — with hospital customers including Ostrava's city hospital, which reports 21 percent savings on suture material, 34 percent on anaesthesia and oxygen-therapy supplies and 25 percent on infusion solutions.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. That is buying on a hospital's behalf, not a comparison of what each hospital paid. Its own site, read on 19 September 2026, describes pooled buying and e-auctions, leads with electricity and gas for public bodies, and offers no price comparison between hospitals.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. eCENTRE, a.s. was incorporated on 12 May 2004 and its pooled purchasing dates to 2006.
- Established: PROEBIZ (another site)Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
It sells JOSEPHINE and TENDERBOX, the e-procurement platforms used by Czech health buyers to publish and run their medicine purchasing procedures.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. That is the software the call is filed on, not the pooling of demand across hospitals and not a comparison of what each one paid. PROEBIZ s.r.o., of Moravská Ostrava, has traded since 19 March 1996.
- Established: QCM (E-ZAK) (another site)Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
It sells E-ZAK, the e-procurement system Fakultní nemocnice Brno runs its medicine purchasing systems onMarket checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. — again the filing surface, not the buying and not the price comparison. QCM, s.r.o., of Brno, has traded since 9 October 2001, and the state contracts register pairs it with 2 distinct public buyers, one of them Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- 2 sourcesMarket checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them…TEDted.europa.euTED — Brno university hospital tenders ustekinumab on its own (another site)Brno's university hospital opened its own ustekinumab tender in the same week that two Prague hospitals put the same substance into their joint purchase.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Léčivé přípravky s účinnou látkou USTEKINUMAB II.”
It sells Tender arena and eGordion, the two contracting-authority platforms used by Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice v Praze, the largest buyer here, to publish its purchasing profile.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. Both host procedures; neither pools demand or compares prices between hospitals. Tender systems s.r.o., of Prague, has traded since 19 December 2012.
- Established: ÚZIS (DRG Restart benchmarking) (another site)Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
The state health-statistics institute runs a cost benchmark across a contracted network of reference hospitals, comparing what each hospital case costs, not what each hospital paid for a medicine.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. The network was built in 2015, and its named members include the university hospitals in Olomouc, Hradec Králové, Ostrava, Motol and Brno.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. Its benchmarking pages are closed to the public, and it is a state institute, dating to 1960, not a vendor.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
That firm has pooled public buying since 2006.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. It gathers the demand of many public buyers into one negotiated contract, run as electronic auctions.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. It buys on a hospital's behalf and does not show a hospital what its peers paid, so it sells something next door, not this.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. Not finding a Czech price comparison does not prove that none exists.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. The rest of the field sells pieces:
- Three established Czech firms sell the platforms the medicine calls run on.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. Each hosts the calls, and none pools the buying or compares prices.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
- The health ministry and the association of innovative drug makers have compared real unit prices since 2019, but only for the ministry's own hospitals.MZdmzd.gov.czMinistry drug price database — the state had to build one to see the spread (another site)The health ministry and the innovative-pharma association built a database of real unit prices delivered to directly-managed hospitals, live since 2019, because the founder could not otherwise compare what its own hospitals paid; its unit prices may not be passed on.In the source’s words“u každého léčivého přípravku údaj o váženém průměru jeho ceny a o jeho nejvyšší a nejnižší reálné jednotkové ceně uvedené v databázi” The association hosts and pays for the database, and its unit prices may not be passed on.MZdmzd.gov.czMinistry drug price database — the state had to build one to see the spread (another site)The health ministry and the innovative-pharma association built a database of real unit prices delivered to directly-managed hospitals, live since 2019, because the founder could not otherwise compare what its own hospitals paid; its unit prices may not be passed on.In the source’s words“u každého léčivého přípravku údaj o váženém průměru jeho ceny a o jeho nejvyšší a nejnižší reálné jednotkové ceně uvedené v databázi”
- The ministry built that database because it could not otherwise compare what its own hospitals paid.MZdmzd.gov.czMinistry drug price database — the state had to build one to see the spread (another site)The health ministry and the innovative-pharma association built a database of real unit prices delivered to directly-managed hospitals, live since 2019, because the founder could not otherwise compare what its own hospitals paid; its unit prices may not be passed on.In the source’s words“u každého léčivého přípravku údaj o váženém průměru jeho ceny a o jeho nejvyšší a nejnižší reálné jednotkové ceně uvedené v databázi” Each report shows a product's average price and its highest and lowest real price.MZdmzd.gov.czMinistry drug price database — the state had to build one to see the spread (another site)The health ministry and the innovative-pharma association built a database of real unit prices delivered to directly-managed hospitals, live since 2019, because the founder could not otherwise compare what its own hospitals paid; its unit prices may not be passed on.In the source’s words“u každého léčivého přípravku údaj o váženém průměru jeho ceny a o jeho nejvyšší a nejnižší reálné jednotkové ceně uvedené v databázi”
- Some buyers pool for themselves: the Pardubice region's hospital company runs central purchasing for the region.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid. The health ministry's joint buying for its own hospitals is under Why now.
- Some university hospitals pool single drugs: Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Ostrava opened one joint call for a cancer drug in September 2026.TEDted.europa.euTED — Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Ostrava university hospitals, zolbetuximab bought jointly (another site)Three university hospitals opened one joint call for zolbetuximab, a cancer drug, in September 2026, and two of them another for relugolix: pooled buying by the hospitals themselves already exists for some drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Other therapeutic products – LP s obsahem zolbetuximabu 2026 - sdružený nákup — 27190352 CZK” None of the three signed the ministry's July memorandum.2 sourcesMZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and…In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity”TEDted.europa.euTED — Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Ostrava university hospitals, zolbetuximab bought jointly (another site)Three university hospitals opened one joint call for zolbetuximab, a cancer drug, in September 2026, and two of them another for relugolix: pooled buying by the hospitals themselves already exists for some…In the source’s words“Czechia – Other therapeutic products – LP s obsahem zolbetuximabu 2026 - sdružený nákup — 27190352 CZK”
- Pooling goes drug by drug: in the same month Olomouc and Hradec Králové bought lenvatinib separately.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc, lenvatinib on its own (~20.9M CZK estimated) (another site)Olomouc's university hospital opened its own call for lenvatinib, a cancer drug, in September 2026: three years of supply in three lots, bids due 13 October 2026.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents – LP s obsahem lenvatinibu 2026”TEDted.europa.euTED — Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, lenvatinib on its own (~10.4M CZK awarded) (another site)Hradec Králové's university hospital awarded its own four-year lenvatinib supply to two wholesalers, published the same month Olomouc opened its separate call for the same drug.In the source’s words“Czechia – Antineoplastic agents – Léčivé přípravky s obsahem lenvatinibu” Pooled buying is not a comparison of prices.TEDted.europa.euTED — Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Ostrava university hospitals, zolbetuximab bought jointly (another site)Three university hospitals opened one joint call for zolbetuximab, a cancer drug, in September 2026, and two of them another for relugolix: pooled buying by the hospitals themselves already exists for some drugs.In the source’s words“Czechia – Other therapeutic products – LP s obsahem zolbetuximabu 2026 - sdružený nákup — 27190352 CZK”
- Pooling and buying alone run side by side among the very hospitals that agreed to look at buying together: two of the six signed one purchase of 28 medicines in September 2026.2 sourcesMZdmzd.gov.czHealth ministry joint purchasing — the second attempt in eight years (another site)On 29 July 2026 the ministry signed a memorandum with six university hospitals to start analysing what could be bought together — eight years after running a joint-purchasing pilot on selected medicines, and…In the source’s words“Pokud budeme některé služby nebo nákupy organizovat mezi nemocnicemi společně, můžeme dosáhnout vyšší efektivity”TEDted.europa.euTED — Bulovka and Královské Vinohrady, 28 medicines bought together (another site)Two Prague teaching hospitals opened one purchase covering 28 medicines, one active substance to a lot, estimated together at about 2.5bn CZK.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Dodávky LP - společný nákup”
- In the same days a third of those six hospitals awarded guselkumab by itself, and a fourth opened its own ustekinumab tender; both substances are lots in that joint purchase.2 sourcesTEDted.europa.euTED — St Anne's in Brno buys guselkumab on its own (another site)A Brno teaching hospital awarded a guselkumab contract by itself five days before two Prague hospitals put the same substance into their joint purchase.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – L04AC16 GUSELKUMAB”TEDted.europa.euTED — Brno university hospital tenders ustekinumab on its own (another site)Brno's university hospital opened its own ustekinumab tender in the same week that two Prague hospitals put the same substance into their joint purchase.In the source’s words“Czechia – Pharmaceutical products – Léčivé přípravky s účinnou látkou USTEKINUMAB II.”
- The state health-statistics institute compares what hospital cases cost across a network of reference hospitals, not what they pay for medicines.Market checkecentre.czeCENTRE and the Czech purchasing platforms (another site)A Czech-language sweep of who already sells hospital purchasing here: eCENTRE pools the buying and sells it to hospitals; PROEBIZ, QCM and Tender systems sell the platforms the procedures run on. None of them was found selling a comparison of what each hospital paid.
Execution difficulty
0/3 · Very hard
Makes it easier
- No licence is needed.
- Hospitals publish their medicine notices openly.
Makes it harder
- Every buyer is a public hospital or region buying under procurement law.
- A Czech firm already sells hospitals the neighbouring pooled buying.
- The first fee is over a year out.
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Execution difficulty
About this section
- What this shows
- What stands between you and the first sale: who buys, what permission selling needs, what it must plug into, and whether it needs outside money.
- Why it matters to a builder
- It tells you whether a small team can start selling soon, or needs a licence, a certification or funding first.
- How to read the score
- More points mean easier to enter: 3/3 is easy, 0/3 very hard. It is not added to the Opportunity total, and local competition does not count here: that is Market gap.
Very hard
Makes it easier
- No licence is needed.
- Hospitals publish their medicine notices openly.
Makes it harder
- Every buyer is a public hospital or region buying under procurement law.
- A Czech firm already sells hospitals the neighbouring pooled buying.
- The first fee is over a year out, so money goes in before any comes back.
Local competition does not change this level. It is covered under Market gap.
Suggested first moves
- Build a first map of who buys which medicines from whom, using the hospitals' own public purchasing notices, before asking any hospital for anything.
- Call the head pharmacists of Olomouc's university hospital and Prague's Bulovka hospital, and ask what one medicine call costs them in staff hours.
- Sell the comparison of what each hospital paid, which no Czech firm was found selling, not the pooled buying a Czech firm already sells.
P-0035 · Czech hospitals are overpaying for medicine
Suggested first moves
About this section
- What this shows
- A few concrete steps to start with.
- Why it matters to a builder
- They are cheap ways to learn whether buyers will pay, before you build much.
- Build a first map of who buys which medicines from whom, using the hospitals' own public purchasing notices, before asking any hospital for anything. Most notices name the supplier that won as well as the hospital, so the map starts from what is already public; see The opportunity. Print a system's ceiling as a ceiling, never as money spent, as Willing to pay explains. The map is what you show the pharmacists in the next move.
- Call the head pharmacists of Olomouc's university hospital and Prague's Bulovka hospital, and ask what one medicine call costs them in staff hours. Between them they ran dozens of medicine calls in one summer; see The opportunity. Nobody has published what a call costs in pharmacist and purchasing hours, and that cost is the price your product has to beat. Show them the map from the first move and ask which comparison they would use.
- Sell the comparison of what each hospital paid, which no Czech firm was found selling, not the pooled buying a Czech firm already sells. That firm buys on a hospital's behalf, and the purchasing platforms host the calls, but none of them compares prices; see Market gap. A Dutch cooperative sells exactly this comparison: pharmacies' prices go in, and each member sees whether it overpays; see Validated abroad. The Czech version of that data exists but is closed to all but the ministry's own hospitals, also under Market gap. Public notices are the way in that nobody has to grant you.
- Take the comparison to the health insurers, who may now buy drugs for specialist centres in one tender on the hospitals' behalf. The national insurer argued for that power with its own numbers, and the law now gives it; see Why now. An insurer planning such a tender will want to know what each hospital pays today, and a hospital that keeps buying such a drug alone is not reimbursed, so both sides need the same picture. Hospitals already have a reason of their own: insurers now pay less for those drugs by an index read off what hospitals paid, so a hospital that pays more than its peers keeps less, as the same section shows. The health ministry's new joint-buying project with the big university hospitals is a second buyer to show it to, under the same section.
- Plan to fund the first year yourself or with investors, because no open grant pays for hospital purchasing tools. The open state eHealth call pays for clinical records, not purchasing, and no other call was found that funds it; see Willing to pay. Public buyers also buy slowly, so expect the first fee to come late; see Execution difficulty.