Romanians have access to only 17% of the medicines approved at European level in the period 2019-2022, in 2023, no new medicines were unconditionally subsidised in our country, and in 2024 only 28 new medicines were included in the list of those subsidised, according to data from the study of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) on the Indicator of Access to Innovative Medicines Patients W.A.I.T. (Waiting to Access Innovative Therapies) for 2023.The Romanian Association of International Manufacturers of Medicines (ARPIM) made public on Thursday a series of data from three reports published in June 2024 by EFPIA, data collected from 36 countries (27 from the EU and 9 from outside the EU) that provide information on the 167 innovative medicines with centralized marketing authorization in the period 2019-2022.Dr. Ioana Bianchi, Director of Foreign Affairs at ARPIM, said that, according to the study data, in Romania, the availability rate of oncological drugs was 19% (out of the 48 that received European approval between 2019 and 2022, only 9 were available in Romania on January 5, 2024) as well as in the case of "orphan" drugs (drugs dedicated to the treatment of rare diseases) which was also 19%.Out of 167 innovative medicines that received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) between 2019 and 2022, only 29 medicines were available in Romania on 5 January 2024. No medicine approved at European level in 2022 was subsidised in Romania on January 5, 2024.The drop is dramatic compared to last year's similar study, which showed an availability rate of 30% (51 drugs), the study data also highlights.As for the access time, i.e. the time from approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to availability in Romania, it is 778 days, while German patients, for instance, have access to state-of-the-art medicines in just 126 days, according to the data presented by Dr. Bianchi.In our country, the main reasons why pharmaceutical companies have to wait to submit their evaluation files are: the evaluation criteria, the technical and human infrastructure necessary for diagnosing diseases, so the average time for submitting files is 86 days, but the average time for a reimbursement decision is 563 days, the data of the said study reads.
Romanian-born actor Sebastian Stan has been nominated in the category of "Best Actor in a Leading Role" for his performance in the film The Apprentice at the 2025 BAFTA Awards. Stan portrays Donald Trump in The Apprentice, focusing on the early years Trump spent in New York. The film depicts a young Trump as an emotional […]
Romanian authorities in coordination with the European Commission participated on Wednesday, January 15, in the urgent medical evacuation operation of 12 Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip, along with 35 family members. Those evacuated are severely affected by the lack of access to adequate medical treatment. The operation was carried out with the involvement of […]
Romania’s state railway operator CFR Călători will receive 12 new electric trains, which will connect Bucharest with the largest cities in the country’s eastern counties. The trains, part of a contract with the Railway Reform Authority, or ARF, will connect Bucharest North station to Suceava, Iași, Galați, as well as Iași to Cluj-Napoca. According to […]
In a decision adopted in its Thursday meeting, the Romanian government approved May 4, 2025, as the new date for the first round of the presidential elections. The second round should thus be held on May 18, as agreed by the ruling coalition leaders last week. "Two government decisions and an emergency ordinance have been […]
Most of the excavation for the first tunnel built on a highway in Romania has been completed, and traffic could potentially be opened by the end of this year between Tigveni and Bucharest, a section of the Sibiu-Pitești highway. Romanian state officials noted construction work at Section 4 (Tigveni - Curtea de Argeș) of the […]
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or EBRD, invested EUR 707 million in 44 projects in Romania in 2024 to support the country’s green transition, a sharp increase compared to the previous year, when it invested EUR 658 million spread over 23 projects. EBRD cooperates with private corporations, equity funds, banks, as well as local […]
