The 2026 WAIT Indicator by European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations highlights growing inequality in access to innovative medicines across Europe. The report, covering 168 new medicines approved between 2021 and 2024 in 36 countries, shows that patients continue to face major disparities in both availability and waiting times.

The findings reveal worsening availability trends: nearly half of innovative medicines (49%) were unavailable to European patients in 2025, compared with 46% in 2019. At the same time, restricted access has become more common, rising from 6% in 2019 to 17% in 2025, while the proportion of medicines fully accessible through public reimbursement systems has dropped sharply from 42% to 28%. EFPIA attributes these delays and barriers to slow regulatory and reimbursement processes, differing evidence requirements, and insufficient healthcare budgets across EU Member States.

To improve access, EFPIA proposes introducing “Day 1 access,” allowing patients to receive new treatments immediately after regulatory approval while national reimbursement assessments are completed within a 180-day timeframe. The organisation also argues that Europe must increase spending on innovative medicines and adopt a more balanced pricing approach to remain attractive for pharmaceutical R&D investment. EFPIA Director General Nathalie Moll warned that Europe cannot expect faster access and greater investment while simultaneously demanding the lowest prices and highest government clawbacks, stressing that policymakers must decide what priorities they want to support.