WAIT INDICATOR

Improving the availability of medicines authorised in the European Union (EU) is a crucial priority for the European medicines regulatory network and for the pharmaceutical industry. This year’s iteration of the Patients W.A.I.T. (Waiting to Access Innovative Therapies) Indicator has been running in evolving formats since 2004. It is the most extensive European study into innovative medicines availability and the time to patient access.

The charts in the following report cover a broader set of countries than in previous years. In the publication, data on 37 countries (27 EU and 10 non-EU) are included giving a complete European picture of availability.



In 2023, Luxembourg participates in the study for the second time and for the first time is able to provide information on the date of entry of innovative medicines on the positive list or on the commercialised medicines list. The figures of Luxembourg included the medicines with a public reimbursement price (positive list) and every medicine distributed through the hospital pharmacy  (product D and H in commercialised medicines) is 100 % supported by the hospital's budget (free for the patient).

While in the study published in 2022, Luxembourg provided access to 66% of innovative medicines (as did France), in the latest study only 57% of innovative medicines reach Luxembourg patients. This loss of 9 points, makes the country slip from 8th to 13th position, after neighbouring countries such as Germany and France, but also after countries such as the Czech Republic and Spain. 

These results do not yet take into account the extended delays in the pricing processes that started in November 2021. Evidence of these shortcomings will be provided by the study to be published in 2024.