Access GAP: we have been promoted, but there is also bad news....

The results of another data update on the Access GAP platform show that we are consistently closing the gap in access to modern therapies and diagnostics. The overall index rose to 61 points (from 58 points in 2024) on a 100-point scale. We thus ranked second. What's more, we are the only country in the region to have recorded an increase, according to a report presented Thursday by the Association of Employers of Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies INFARMA.

The Access GAP 2025 results show a mixed picture of changes in the field of oncology. In the case of cancer, the average score for the four monitored disease entities (lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer) fell from 67 points in 2024 to 64.8 points today, still the highest among V4 countries. Declines are seen in lung cancer (from 68 to 63.3 points), ovarian cancer (from 69.8 to 69.2 points) and breast cancer (from 63.5 to 56.2 points). In the latter case, despite the decline, Poland retains its second place in the region, while Hungary and Slovakia saw a much larger increase in restrictions on access to new therapies and diagnoses. The large decline in access to breast cancer therapies is primarily due to an increase in the "denominator," i.e., newly introduced therapies during the period under review. As a result, the rate in this area has declined in many countries.

In the area of rare diseases, Poland scored 72 points, an increase of 8 points year-on-year. Poland is only a hair behind the Czech Republic here (72.7 points). There was a particularly large increase in the treatment of SMA - from 75.9 to 91.8 points, which means almost full coverage of therapeutic needs.

Despite progress, the availability of modern therapies for chronic diseases remains the lowest of the three therapeutic categories analyzed. This year, the average score for this group of diseases is 47.7, narrowing the gap by nearly 5 points. However, this area still clearly lags behind oncology and rare diseases. This is particularly evident in diabetes, which already affects more than 3 million people in Poland (of which one in three Poles is unaware). At the same time, access to modern diabetes therapies in Poland remains limited. Although the gap in this area has narrowed by as much as 10 points - to 41.2 points - many innovative diabetes therapies are still not covered by reimbursement. Experts have no doubt: without wider inclusion of innovative drugs in the reimbursement system, the epidemic of this chronic disease will not be stopped.

There is also another piece of bad news: the average time from registration to reimbursement of a drug in the V4 countries has increased to 1086 days (a year earlier it was 1029 days). The average period ranges from 2.3 years in the Czech Republic to 3.3 years in Hungary. For Poland, it is 1176 days, or 3.22 years.