On Wednesday 7 May, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) unveiled two reports showing “no shift in access to medicines for millions of Europeans”.
The perpetual inequality of access to medicines requires rapid action by multiple partners to remedy the delays, according to EFPIA.
The W.A.I.T. indicator (https://aeur.eu/f/gp9 ) provides a comprehensive analysis of 173 new medicines approved between 2020 and 2023. In 2024, based on the EU average across 27 Member States, the data show that: - less than half (46%) of innovative medicines approved centrally were accessible to patients - compared with 48% in 2019; - only 29% of medicines were fully accessible through public reimbursement, down from 42% in 2019; - 17% of medicines were only available with restrictions, compared with 6% in 2019.
The average time from approval to patient access has now reached 578 days - more than a month longer than in 2023.
Disparities between countries remain significant: Germany is the fastest country, with a waiting time of 128 days, while Portuguese patients now wait the longest, at 840 days. All therapeutic areas have been affected, including cancer treatments, orphan medicines and combined therapies, for which the average time to access has increased still further. The average lead time for oncology products is 33 days longer than in last year’s report and 66 days longer than for the 2022 group.
The CRA report (https://aeur.eu/f/gp8 ) on the causes of unavailability explores the reasons for these disparities (slow regulatory process, late start of market access assessment, redundant evidence requirements, reimbursement delays). These factors are embedded in EU Member States’ systems of access to medicines and have an impact on commercial decisions, according to the report.
Laurent Castillo MEP (EPP, French) believes that the reports show that France must take some responsibility. Why, of the 173 innovative medicines authorised at European level between 2020 and 2023, are almost 40% inaccessible to French patients? - he asks. Worse still, 71% of innovative medicines used to treat cancer are either not reimbursed or not authorised in France, points out Mr Castillo. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)