ESIP-MEDEV Pharmaceutical Innovation Summit: Bridging Competitiveness with Affordability
.png)
The Pharmaceutical Innovation Summit: Bridging competitiveness with affordability, co-organised by the European Social Insurance Plaftom (ESIP) and the Medicine Evaluation Committee, took place in Brussels on 5 May 2026.
As global trade dynamics evolve, Europe is sharpening its narrative on competitiveness and strategic autonomy, while public healthcare payers face mounting pressure to keep checks and balances robust.
Amid rising pharmaceutical spending and new geopolitical complexities, high-level decision-makers from public payers, national health technology assessment bodies, the European Medicines Agency, leading research institutes and more explored a central question: are competitiveness and healthcare budget sustainability friends or foes, and (how) can we reconcile a globally competitive innovation ecosystem with affordability?
Key themes addressed:
• When evidence falls short: What it really means for regulation & reimbursement
• Paying for innovation: Incentives, competitiveness and competition in Europe
• Geopolitics applied to pharmaceuticals
Find out the programme.
NEW: Read the full report.
On the margins of the summit, ESIP & MEDEV presented the publication: “Beyond pricing: The HTA and public healthcare payers’ vision for an innovative, stable and predictable pharmaceutical market in Europe”.
Key topics explored:
• what meaningful pharmaceutical innovation should look like to deliver real, tangible benefits for patients.
• how incentives can be better steered to reward a demand-driven rather than supply-driven ecosystem.
• how payers are adapting the way medicines are assessed, financed and brought to patients, balancing their willingness and capacity to pay.
In the context of the EU competitiveness agenda, it is crucial to ensure that Europe’s pharmaceutical future can be innovative and competitive, yet evidence-based, patient-centered and affordable.