European patient access to new drugs worsens, pharma lobby says

A new study by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations found that every euro spent on new medicines generates €5.67 in benefits, despite worsening patient access to new medicines across Europe.

Patient access ​to new medicines is worsening across Europe, ​the region's main pharmaceuticals industry lobby ‌group said ​as it published research arguing that investment in innovative medicines generates substantial economic and social returns.

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) ‌said on Monday that a study it commissioned found that every euro spent on new medicines generated €5.67 in benefits, including reduced hospital costs and higher workforce productivity. Drugmakers have increased pressure on European governments over pricing, ‌warning that tighter cost controls could make the region less attractive for investment and delay ‌access to new treatments.

Some companies are also delaying European launches while assessing the impact that lower European prices will have on U.S. revenues in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's price-matching policy to lower costs for American patients. Separate data from ⁠the ​EFPIA showed that, once ⁠approved in Europe, drugs now take an average of 597 days to become available to patients, up from 504 days ⁠in 2019.

The findings released on Monday examined medicines used to treat cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases across 29 European ​countries between 2014 and 2022. The study was conducted by Germany's WifOR Institute and ⁠Columbia University economist Frank Lichtenberg. It estimated that newer medicines were associated with 1.83 million fewer years of life lost before age ⁠85 ​and 20.9 million fewer hospital days, equivalent to freeing more than 57,000 hospital beds for a year. It also linked them to €38 billion ($43.43 billion) in workforce productivity gains, €19 billion in savings ⁠on activities such as informal care and €9 billion in hospital cost savings.

The EFPIA said that Europe ⁠has lost nearly a ⁠quarter of its share of global pharmaceutical R&D investment over two decades and urged governments to view spending on innovative medicines as investment rather than ‌a short-term ‌cost. ($1 = 0.8749 euros)