Consumers could end up paying more for some medicines and less for others under the federal government's new pharmaceutical reforms.
Health Minister Sussan Ley says the price of common medicines could be slashed by half under new deals with the bodies representing pharmacies and the generic medicines industry.
Medicines for cholesterol, heart conditions and depression could be cheaper by up to $10 per script for general patients under a new five-year agreement with the Generic Medicines industry Association, Ms Ley says.
She says this complements measures from the government's agreement with the Pharmacy Guild which would allow pharmacists to offer patients a $1 discount on prescription medication.
The government will also remove low-cost over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, to allow funding to be focused on essential high-cost medicines, she said.
But University of Melbourne professor Philip Clarke says there will be losers as well as winners under the new agreements.
He said changes to the way pharmacists will be paid to dispense prescription drugs will make some medications more expensive.
"Very cheap drugs may become more expensive, but more expensive drugs may become cheaper," Prof Clarke told AAP.
"Some consumers will lose."
Consumer Health Forum chief executive Leanne Wells says the agreement will leave consumers paying billions of dollars more for prescription drugs.
She also slammed the government's continuation of location rules, which prohibit new pharmacies opening within a certain distance of an existing one, saying the Pharmacy Guild would be the only party to be consulted on the terms of reference for the government's two-year independent review into the issue.
"This is simply not good enough," she said.
Prof Clarke said maintaining the location rules was a "big win" for the Pharmacy Guild.
It's not clear why the government is conducting another inquiry into location rules given several inquiries, including the Harper competition review, called for the rules to be scrapped, he said.
Ms Ley, who introduced legislation to implement the five-year agreements on Wednesday, said consumers would get cheaper medicine, taxpayers would get better value for money, and access to innovative medicines would be improved.
The government would save $3.7 billion over five years, with most of the savings coming from changes to PBS pricing.
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