Mounting financial pressure and regulatory uncertainty are delaying the arrival of new therapies for Bulgarian patients
Access to innovative therapies in Bulgaria is deteriorating, according to the latest data from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. Industry representatives are warning that the trend could deepen unless the government reforms pricing and reimbursement policies.
The findings come from EFPIA’s latest WAIT indicator, published in 2025, which measures the availability of newly approved medicines across Europe. The study shows that between 2021 and 2024, only 46% of new therapies approved in the EU became available in Bulgaria, down from 53% recorded in the previous 2020–2023 survey period.
The decline means that dozens of therapies authorised at the EU level in recent years have still not reached Bulgarian patients.
“Without reforms, the system will continue to function by restricting access rather than by managing healthcare needs,” Deyan Denev, executive director of ARPharM-Bulgaria, told Euractiv.
