Greeks wait almost two years for access to new treatments, while pharmaceutical companies increasingly say they do not intend to launch new products in the country.
Europe is entering a new era of medical and pharmaceutical innovation, with treatments that promise to radically transform the management of cancer, rare diseases and chronic conditions.
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Yet for many Greek patients, this innovation still feels very distant.
New data presented by the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) and the global data company IQVIA show that Greece continues to lag significantly behind in access to innovative therapies, both compared with the European average and with Europe’s largest markets.
According to the Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator 2025 study by EFPIA and IQVIA, fewer new medicines are reaching the Greek market, waiting times for patients remain extremely long, and an increasing number of pharmaceutical companies appear reluctant to launch new products in Greece.
Only 69 of the 168 new medicines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the period 2021-2024 have reached Greece. Of these, just 36 are fully accessible to patients through the reimbursement system, while the rest are available only via restrictive procedures, such as IFET and the Electronic Pre-Approval Systems.
This means that Greek patients have unhindered access to just 1 in 5 innovative medicines of the past four years, limited access to another 1 in 5, and no access at all to the remaining 3 out of 5 new medicines.
These figures are also confirmed by a second study that was presented, which examined the trajectory of 214 new innovative medicines approved by the EMA in the period 2022-2025.
Of these, only 42 – around 20% – are currently available on the Greek market.
_"_The updated version of the study we carry out every year on access to new innovative medicines in our country showed this year that 3 out of 5 innovative medicines apparently will not be available in the coming years to Greek patients," SFEE president OlympiosPapadimitriou told Euronews.
"In practice, this means that some people who may be suffering from a very serious chronic condition, such as various types of cancer, blood disorders or many other, including rare, diseases may not have access to the treatment that is the most appropriate for them. Because, for better or worse, each medicine works for certain people. There is no single medicine for a disease that suits everyone. It is important that the treating doctor has at their disposal a wider range of therapeutic options to choose from."
The gap with Europe is widening
Delays also remain extremely long. According to EFPIA data, it takes an average of 641 days – almost 21 months – from the European approval of a medicine until it is reimbursed in Greece. Although this is a marginal improvement on the 654 days recorded in the previous study, the country still remains below the European average.
The difference becomes even more striking when compared with countries such as Germany, where access to new medicines is achieved in just 158 days on average. In Italy the corresponding time is 441 days, while in Austria it is 363 days.
Greece also ranks low in the overall availability of new medicines in Europe. The country shows an availability rate of 41%, compared with a European average of 45%. By contrast, Germany reaches 93%, Austria 85% and Italy 79%.
Even more worrying is the fact that the situation appears to be deteriorating. The new IQVIA study records a clear decline in the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to bring new innovative medicines to Greece.
According to the data, 101 of the 131 new innovative medicines that do not yet have a price in Greece are estimated never to be launched in the country, based on the companies’ own responses.
At the same time, almost half of the innovative medicines that have already been priced in Greece are not expected to be submitted for reimbursement. Only 2 of the 41 priced medicines are considered "certain" to be available in future to Greek patients.
The 'legacy' of the bailout memoranda
The companies attribute this caution mainly to the financial environment of the Greek market and in particular to the high compulsory returns (clawback and rebates), which – they argue – make Greece less attractive as a market for the introduction of new treatments.
The strict measures to reduce pharmaceutical spending in Greece are a "legacy" of the debt crisis. At that time, excessive spending on medicinal products and therapies was identified, which in many cases was the result of fraud or corruption.
Today the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies (SFEE) warns that these same measures are preventing many innovative medicines from reaching Greek patients.
_"_We are victims of the Memoranda," explains SFEE Director General Mr Michalis Cheimonas to Euronews. "Back then we cut public expenditure and now we are paying the price for that very decision. What we are asking of the state for the next three years is a clear, transparent framework for pharmaceutical spending, which will stand on two pillars: the first pillar will be the redefinition of public pharmaceutical expenditure so that it meets citizens’ needs, and the second, using digital tools and controls, will make pharmaceutical spending even more efficient."
According to the study, the likelihood that a new innovative medicine will not be marketed in Greece at all has increased significantly in recent years.
The share of medicines estimated "not to be placed on the market" rose from 49% in the period 2021-2024 to 62% for the period 2022-2025.
The greatest difficulties are recorded in specialised categories of therapies, such as orphan drugs (pharmaceutical products developed specifically for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of rare, life-threatening or serious chronic conditions) and combination therapies.
For the latter, the availability rate in Greece has collapsed to 30%, from 57% in the previous measurement.
Meanwhile, a new institutional issue is causing additional concern in the sector. According to SFEE’s presentation, the forthcoming change to the "basket" of countries used for setting medicine prices in Greece may slow down access to new therapies even further.
As was pointed out, replacing countries such as Germany, Austria and Italy with Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic in the new reference system could add around 79 extra days of delay to the availability of new medicines in Greece. This would mean that overall waiting times for a Greek patient could exceed two years.
A European problem
The problem, however, does not concern only Greece. Europe itself is showing growing inequalities in access to new medicines.
According to the W.A.I.T. Indicator study, the average time to availability in the EU now stands at 597 days, up on the previous year. At the same time, only 28% of new medicines are fully available to European patients through national reimbursement systems.
The picture highlights a broader European problem: while Europe approves new therapies through the EMA, patients’ actual access ultimately depends on national reimbursement policies, fiscal capacity and how attractive each market is for pharmaceutical companies.
SFEE argues that tackling the problem requires redefining public pharmaceutical expenditure so that it reflects the real needs of the population, as well as improving the efficiency of the system through prescription controls and greater use of digital tools.
The association is also calling for a stable and predictable three-year policy framework which, it says, would allow pharmaceutical companies to plan investments and launches on the Greek market.
For patients, though, the issue is much simpler and more immediate: whether the treatment they need will be available at the moment they need it.
