New data from SFEE and IQVIA reveal a stark healthcare divide: Greece is lagging far behind Europe in providing patients access to innovative medicines.
Of the 168 new drugs approved by the European Medicines Agency from 2021-2024, only 69 entered the Greek market. Just 36 are fully reimbursed, meaning 3 out of 5 cutting-edge therapies are completely unavailable to patients.
“Three out of five innovative medicines apparently will not be available in the coming years,” said Olympios Papadimitriou, president of SFEE. He added that patients with chronic conditions like cancer may not receive the most appropriate treatment for their specific needs.
Delays are punishingly long. It takes an average of 641 days-nearly 21 months-from European approval to reimbursement in Greece. In Germany, that wait is just 158 days. Greece’s overall availability rate is 41%, versus 93% in Germany.
Industry leaders blame a “legacy” of the Greek debt crisis. The bailout-era imposed strict pharmaceutical spending caps, which are now preventing companies from launching new products. The share of medicines unlikely to be marketed in Greece jumped from 49% to 62% in just one year.
“We are victims of the Memoranda,” explained SFEE Director General Michalis Cheimonas, calling for a transparent, three-year spending framework.
The crisis mirrors a broader European problem, where national reimbursement policies create deep inequalities in access to new drugs across the continent.