In June 2026, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) published a landmark study on the economic and social value of pharmaceutical innovation in Europe. Conducted by the German institute WifOR, together with professor Frank R. Lichtenberg, the research analyzed data from 29 European countries between 2014 and 2024 and reaches a direct conclusion: underinvestment in innovative medicines is not a saving, but a cost shifted elsewhere within the health system.

The concept behind the numbers: drug vintage

To measure the degree of innovation actually incorporated into clinical practice, the study relies on a well-established concept in health economics: drug vintage, defined as the year in which a substance received approval from the US FDA. The more recent the utilization-weighted mean vintage used in a country, the greater the penetration of newer therapies into routine care.

Between 2014 and 2024, this average rose by 3.1 years across the three therapeutic groups analyzed — the alimentary tract and metabolism, antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents, and the respiratory system. A fixed-effects econometric model, estimated separately for each outcome, links this shift to:

• a reduction of 1.83 million years of life lost before age 85;
• a reduction of 20.9 million hospital days, equivalent to freeing more than 57,000 hospital beds for a full year.

From health to economics: the Health Footprint methodology

The next stage of the study converts these health gains into monetary value through WifOR’s own Health Footprint methodology. The rationale is straightforward: healthier people are more productive, sustain unpaid activities, and place less strain on hospital resources. Total socioeconomic benefit was broken down into three components:

• paid work productivity: €38.10 billion;
• unpaid contributions, such as informal care and household work: €18.96 billion;
• direct savings from avoided hospitalizations: €9.11 billion.

The total adds up to €66.18 billion generated between 2014 and 2024, against an incremental investment of €11.67 billion associated with the adoption of newer medicines. The average return on investment (ROI) reaches 5.67 times: every euro invested returned €5.67 to European society.

Returns vary by therapeutic area: cancer medicines delivered 6.8 times the amount invested, followed by the alimentary tract and metabolism (4.7 times) and respiratory medicines (3.8 times). Hospital savings alone already recover 78 cents for every euro spent, before accounting for productivity gains.

A challenge Europe shares with other markets

The study arrives at a moment of fierce competition for pharmaceutical R&D investment. Europe’s share of global R&D spending in the sector fell from 41% in 2001 to 31% by the mid-2020s, while the spending gap between the US and Europe grew from €2 billion to €25 billion over the same period. Add to this the average waiting time for European patients to access a newly approved medicine: 532 days, exceeding 1,200 days in some member states.

The lesson is transferable to any market whose competitiveness depends on regulatory agility and market predictability: without clear incentives for registration and access, the research ecosystem migrates to where innovation is recognized and rewarded — a trend already observed in Asia and the United States.

What this means for Brazil and Latin America

For emerging markets, the study reinforces a strategic argument: regulatory agility and predictable access are not only questions of economic competitiveness, but also public health matters. In Brazil, recent regulatory simplification initiatives — from the e-CTD implementation to reliance agreements with equivalent regulatory authorities — move in the same direction observed by EFPIA: shortening the time between approval and the medicine reaching the patient.

Strengthening the Health Industrial Complex, attracting investment in local development, and ensuring timely access to innovative therapies are, in light of these findings, decisions with measurable returns — for health systems, for the economy, and, above all, for patients.

The full study, press release, and infographic are available at: https://www.efpia.eu/news-events/the-efpia-view/statements-press-releases/every-1-invested-in-new-medicines-returns-567-to-europe/