The measure is included in the Annual Price Review (RAP) decree, which extends the exemption from price increases to medicines with a retail price of up to €30, instead of €16 last year.

“This measure aims to protect lower-cost medicines so that they can be available and, simultaneously, will bring savings to the State,” estimated at around €50 million, an amount that could be invested in access to therapeutic innovation and the sustainability of the SUS (Portuguese Public Health System), highlighted Rui Santos Ivo.

Among these are medications with high usage in Portugal, are Metformin (antidiabetic) and Paracetamol (analgesic), according to the National Authority of Medicines (Infarmed).

In the hospital market, medications up to €75, such as Docetaxel, used in oncology, and sodium chloride, will continue to be exempt from review, and above that value, there will be no further limit on price reductions.

In the list of essential medicines, medications containing injectable Azithromycin (antibacterial) and valproic acid (antiepileptic) will be exempt.

Rui Santos Ivo explained that the annual review of drug prices is an instrument used annually to “support the control of expenditure on medicines and, at the same time, update the price of medicines in light of the countries with which Portugal is compared: Spain, France, Italy and Belgium”.

This measure, he stressed, reduces drug prices, but in a controlled manner, ensuring that there are no disruptive changes that compromise market stability.