Greek pharma industry alarms over 80.7% clawback on hospital drugs

The Greek Pharmaceutical Companies Association (SFE) and the PhARMA Innovation Forum reported that the clawback rate on hospital medicines reached 80.7% in the first half of 2025, far above earlier government pledges to gradually reduce the mechanism. The two bodies warned that such a high clawback drains liquidity from pharmaceutical firms, endangers the financing of innovative treatments and limits patients’ access to new therapies.

Kavita Patel, president of the PhARMA Innovation Forum and managing director of Roche Greece and Cyprus, said the figure is “particularly alarming for pharmaceutical innovation in Greece” and that for every ten innovative drugs needed by patients, the state effectively pays for fewer than two, shifting the cost to companies. Olympios Papadimitriou, president of SFE, criticised the state’s “reluctance to assume even minimal commitments” and called for genuine cooperation between the government and the sector to redesign a sustainable and predictable drug‑spending system.