Italy's patients face 14‑month delays for new therapies

In Italy, patients wait an average of 14 months after European Medicines Agency approval before new medicines become available, with the wait varying widely between regions. The delay is driven by price‑negotiation and reimbursement processes led by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) and regional health authorities, creating a “postcode lottery” that can impact disease progression, especially for oncology and rare‑disease treatments.

Novartis, together with more than 20 patient associations and the SDA Bocconi School of Management, has launched the "Pazienti in agorà" project to develop new value‑based health‑care models. The initiative aims to measure the full clinical, social, organizational and economic impact of treatments, giving patients a stronger voice in data collection and priority setting, and to accelerate equitable access to innovative therapies across the Italian National Health Service.

Both efforts highlight the need for faster, more transparent mechanisms to bring approved drugs to patients and to evaluate care outcomes beyond drug efficacy alone.