England Lags Behind Eight European Countries On Innovative Drug Availability

In this third article of a series on new drug reimbursement recommendations by the HTA body NICE, the Pink Sheet finds that fewer innovative medicines are reimbursed in England than in eight other European nations.

Europe medicines access
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Both the average rate of availability of new medicines in Europe and the length of time patients have to wait before they can access these drugs increased in 2023 compared with the year before, according to the European pharmaceutical industry federation EFPIA.

Key Takeaways
  • England was ninth out of 36 European nations in terms of the number of innovative medicines that had been reimbursed through the national system, according to data from EFPIA.

  • Over the last 25 years, the proportion of NICE HTAs that have resulted in a positive recommendation has dropped from 95% to 28%

In its latest WAIT (Waiting to Access Innovative Therapies) Indicator study, EFPIA reported that the average time for a new, innovative medicine to be made available in

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