Only 1 in 5 innovative therapies reaches patients in Greece

Greek patients wait nearly two years for access to new medicines, and an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies are opting out of launching innovative therapies on the local market altogether. This is according to new data presented by the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies and the analytics firm IQVIA, as reported by Euronews. Against the backdrop of rapid medical advancements in Europe—with new therapies for cancer, rare diseases, and chronic conditions—access to these treatments in Greece remains severely limited.

According to the Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator 2025 study, prepared by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and IQVIA, only 69 out of 168 new medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency between 2021 and 2024 have reached the Greek market. Of these, only 36 are fully accessible to patients through the reimbursement system. The remainder are dispensed only through restrictive procedures and special authorization mechanisms.

This means that Greek patients have free access to only 1 in 5 innovative medicines that have emerged over the last four years. Another 1 in 5 have limited availability, while the remaining 3 do not reach patients at all.

A second study presented during the forum examined 214 new innovative medications approved by the European Medicines Agency between 2022 and 2025. The data shows that only 42 of them—approximately 20%—are actually present on the Greek market.

“Three out of every five innovative medicines will likely never become available to Greek patients,” stated Olympios Papadimitriou, President of the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies. According to him, this means that people with serious illnesses—including various forms of cancer, hematological, and rare diseases—may be left without the most appropriate treatment.

“There is no single universal medicine that works for all patients. It is vital that doctors have more therapeutic options at their disposal,” he emphasized.

The data also reveals a significant lag compared to the rest of Europe. The average time from European approval of a drug to its reimbursement in Greece is 641 days—nearly 21 months. While this is a slight improvement over the previous 654 days, the country remains far below European standards.

For comparison:

• in Germany, access to new medicines takes an average of 158 days;
• in Austria—363 days;
• in Italy—441 days.

The overall availability of new medicines in Greece is 41%, compared to a European average of 45%. In Germany, this figure reaches 93%, in Austria 85%, and in Italy 79%.

Particularly concerning is the fact that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly deciding against introducing new products to the country. According to the analysis, 101 out of 131 new innovative medicines that do not yet have a price in Greece will likely never be launched on the market. The data is based on the companies’ own responses. Nearly half of the medicines that have already received a price are also not expected to apply for reimbursement. Only 2 out of 41 medications are considered “certain” to reach patients.

The pharmaceutical sector blames the situation on the strict fiscal policies imposed following the debt crisis and the bailout programs for Greece. During the crisis, mechanisms were introduced to limit public spending on medicines, including high mandatory discounts and the so-called clawback mechanism, through which companies return funds to the state if budgets are exceeded.

“We are victims of the memorandums,” stated the association’s Director General, Michalis Himonas. “We cut public spending back then, and today we are paying the price for that decision,” he added. According to him, the sector is calling for a clear and predictable three-year plan for pharmaceutical policy that would ensure sufficient public funding and more effective control through digital tools.

The situation is particularly dire for rare disease medications and combination therapies. For the latter, accessibility in Greece has dropped to just 30%, down from 57% in the previous study. Additional tension is being created by the upcoming change in the drug pricing system.

According to the pharmaceutical industry, replacing countries like Germany, Austria, and Italy with Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic in the reference price basket could delay access to new therapies by nearly another 80 days. This would mean that Greek patients could wait over two years for a new treatment.

However, the problem is not unique to Greece. Data shows that inequalities in access to innovative therapies are deepening across Europe. The average time for access to new medicines in the EU is now 597 days, and only 28% of new medications are fully accessible through national reimbursement systems.

According to experts, this indicates that while Europe approves new therapies at a pan-European level, actual access to them depends on national budgets, funding policies, and the attractiveness of individual markets for pharmaceutical companies.