SFEE Highlights Significant Delays in Greek Patient Access to New Medicines
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The Association of Pharmaceutical Companies of Greece (SFEE) has raised alarms regarding substantial delays in bringing new, innovative medicines to Greek patients, with access often occurring nearly two years after European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval. This situation poses significant challenges for patient care and the pharmaceutical market in Greece.
Greek patient groups and industry association SFEE say access to new medicines remains slow after European Medicines Agency approval. The claim sits on EFPIA’s 2025 Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator, which still shows multi-year gaps between EU authorisation and national reimbursement across southern Europe.
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Key Takeaways
- EFPIA’s 2025 W.A.I.T. Indicator covers 168 innovative medicines with central marketing authorisation between 2021 and 2024, with availability measured as of 5 January 2026.
- The EU average time to availability is 597 days, about 19 days longer than the 578-day figure in the prior study.
- Only 28% of those medicines were fully available on public reimbursement lists across the surveyed European set, while 49% were not available.
- SFEE’s May 2026 briefing used the same W.A.I.T. cycle to highlight a Greek wait near 641 days and low local launch rates.
What does the EFPIA W.A.I.T. Indicator measure?
The EFPIA Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator 2025 tracks whether innovative medicines appear on public reimbursement lists and how long that takes after central EU approval. It is designed for cross-country comparison, not as a full map of every named-patient or hospital pathway.
EFPIA’s companion press statement on the 2025 survey stresses widening inequality between Member States. Full availability fell to 28%, limited availability sits near 17%, and nearly half of products are unavailable in the average European snapshot.
Why is SFEE focused on Greek patient access now?
SFEE, the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies, used the 2025 W.A.I.T. release to argue that Greek patients still wait nearly two years after EMA approval for reimbursed access. Industry briefings around 25 May 2026 cited roughly 641 days from European approval to Greek reimbursement and said only about one in five recent innovative medicines reaches patients without major limits.
Those national talking points should be read as industry advocacy built on the EFPIA-IQVIA dataset. They are not an EMA enforcement finding. Still, the direction matches the W.A.I.T. pattern for southern Europe: long timelines and incomplete reimbursement lists.
How do EU averages frame Greece’s delay?
EFPIA reports an EU average time to availability of 597 days and a median of 532 days in the 2025 cycle. Country extremes in the same release run from about 158 days in Germany to 1,110 days in Romania. A Greek figure near 641 days sits above the EU average and below the worst outliers.
- Medicines in scope: 168 (EMA central authorisations 2021–2024)
- Availability cutoff: 5 January 2026
- EU average time: 597 days
- Prior-study EU average: 578 days
- Full availability share: 28%
- Not available share: 49%
What role does EMA authorisation play?
Central authorisation by the European Medicines Agency creates a single EU marketing authorisation for many innovative products. It does not place a medicine on a national reimbursement list. Pricing, clawbacks, health technology assessment, and budget rules still decide whether Greek patients get funded access.
That split is why W.A.I.T. times matter for BD and access teams. An EMA green light can sit unused for years if national rebate policy or reference pricing makes a launch unattractive.
What should market-access teams watch next?
Watch Greek reference-basket changes, clawback levels, and whether companies file for pricing within EFPIA’s two-year filing aspiration where local systems allow it. Also watch whether restricted pathways (named-patient or pre-approval systems) are counted as “available” in local debate. W.A.I.T. already tries to separate full versus limited availability for that reason.
What remains unproven?
W.A.I.T. does not prove that any single rebate cut would move Greece to German-level timelines. It also does not capture every hospital exception pathway. SFEE member surveys about launch intent are directional industry data. Treat them as signals for negotiation strategy, not as regulator-certified patient registries.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the EFPIA Patients W.A.I.T. Indicator?
It is EFPIA’s annual survey of public reimbursement availability and time to availability for innovative medicines with EU central marketing authorisation across dozens of European countries.
How long do EU patients wait on average for new medicines?
In the 2025 W.A.I.T. Indicator covering medicines authorised from 2021 to 2024, EFPIA reports an EU average time to availability of 597 days, up from 578 days in the prior study.
What delay does SFEE cite for Greece?
In May 2026 commentary on the 2025 W.A.I.T. data, SFEE cited an average Greek delay of about 641 days from European approval to national reimbursement, and warned that many new medicines never launch locally.
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