Medicines with a retail price of up to 10 euros may increase by 3,5% in 2024, according to the annual price review ordinance published today in Diário da República and which comes into force this Saturday, February 3rd.
The ordinance defines the reference countries to be considered in 2024, for the authorization of prices for new medicines and for the purposes of annual price review of medicines acquired by the National Health Service and medicines dispensed in the outpatient market, as well as maintaining for this year the exceptional criteria to be applied in the price review regime.
Regarding the maximum price of medicines in the outpatient market in 2024, the ordinance states that, given the current national and international economic situation, exceptional criteria are introduced that allow an increase in the prices of medicines, with a Public Sales Price (PVP) lower or equal to 10 euros in order to “avoid the erosion of medicines with lower prices”.
It also provides for exemption from the application of annual price review rules for all medicines with a maximum price of less than or equal to 16 euros.
According to the order, this measure is in line with the procedure adopted in 2023, with favorable results from the point of view of controlling public expenditure on medicines in the outpatient market, protecting citizens' access to medicine, through price control.
«At the same time, it facilitated conditions for the production and commercialization of lower-cost medicines, guaranteeing their presence on the market and thus making them effective therapeutic alternatives», he highlights.
The ordinance defines that in the outpatient market (pharmacies), all medicines with a maximum retail price of less than or equal to 10 euros can be increased by 3,5% compared to the maximum RRP currently in force.
Medicines with a maximum RRP between 10 and 16 euros are exempt from the application of the annual price review regime, says the ordinance, adding that drugs between 16 and 30 euros have a downward revision with a maximum brake of 5% and above 30 euros they cannot drop more than 10% of the current price.
Regarding medicines purchased by establishments and services of the National Health Service, the ordinance establishes that medicines with prices up to 15 euros are exempt from price review and above this value they cannot have a reduction of more than 5%.
Generic and biosimilar medicines with prices up to 16 euros “are exempt from the application of the annual price review regime”.
This exemption does not apply to generic medicines with a maximum price of 16 euros or more, which have the same reduction provided for other medicines.
«The maximum price resulting from the 2024 annual price review of those generic medicines cannot exceed the maximum price of the reference medicine», states the decree signed by the Minister of Health Manuel Pizarro.
«The annual price review process results in benefits for the State and citizens, allowing for the sustainability of public expenditure, the reduction of expenditure for people and the fight against the shortage of medicines, reasons that underlie the importance of adopting this measure without postponement", the document reads.
The ordinance comes into force on Saturday, but prices will be updated until March 1st.
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