Lisbon, May 19, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal is the second-slowest country in Europe in bringing new medicines to market, according to an international report that reveals Portuguese patients have to wait more than two years for new drugs.
This is one of the conclusions of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) report, which points to a scenario of growing inequality in access to and availability of innovative medicines in Europe.
The researchers sought to understand how long it takes for a new treatment to become available and looked at 168 medicines that received marketing authorisation between 2021 and 2024.
On average, these medicines took 532 days to reach the market, but there are significant disparities between countries. Germans had to wait just 56 days, while Romanians waited 1,201 days, that is, more than three years and four months.
In this ranking, which compares 36 countries, Portugal comes second from last, with an average waiting time of 784 days between marketing authorisation and the date the medicine becomes available to patients.
Among those with the shortest waiting times are, after the Germans, the Swiss (212 days), the Serbs (235), the Austrians (259), the Danes (268), and the British (282).
At the bottom of the table, slightly better off than the Romanians and the Portuguese, are the Lithuanians, who have to wait an average of 783 days, the Croatians (666 days) and the Poles (655).
The researchers also examined how many approved medicines had not yet reached the market and found that the majority had not. Out of the 168 new treatments, only 76 were available at the start of this year (45%).
In this field, Portugal stands out, with 89 medicines available (53%), ranking 12th. Germany once again leads, with 93% of medicines on the market by January 2026.
After Germany comes Austria (85%), Italy (79%), Switzerland (76%) and Spain (69%). At the bottom of the table are Malta (22 medicines), Serbia (17) and Turkey (9).
The researchers highlight an “88% disparity in access between the European country with the best access and the one with the worst access”.
The study also showed that the situation is worsening and that, currently, there are greater inequalities between member states, European patients are waiting longer, and there are greater restrictions.
In the past, full availability of new medicines was the main form of access, but now there are increasing restrictions, the researchers warned.
The percentage of medicines fully available on public reimbursement lists has plummeted in recent years: it stood at 42% in 2019 and is now 28%.
Germany is once again the country with the best conditions, with 93% of medicines fully available, compared with Turkey, where patients have access to only 5%. In Portugal, the figure is 28%, the same as the European average.
Researchers cite several reasons for the unavailability and delays in access to new medicines, including slow regulatory processes, inconsistent evidence requirements, and insufficient budgets in member states.
In the study, EFPIA calls for greater investment in new medicines and for patients to have access to new treatments while national processes for assessing therapeutic value and reimbursement are ongoing, within an agreed timeframe of 180 days.
EFPIA’s Director General, Nathalie Moll, warned that Europe has been facing problems with access to medicines for 25 years and believes that sweeping price reforms will exacerbate the situation.
"It is unrealistic to expect greater investment in Europe and faster access to new treatments for Europeans if member states also continue to demand the lowest possible prices and the highest rates of reimbursement to the state. We need to make a choice," she said.
SIM/MYAL // ADB.
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