Driving Patient Access Innovation in European Healthcare Systems

Patient access innovation has become an urgent imperative in European healthcare, as Novartis Europe President Iris Zemzoum urges immediate patient availability of therapies like radioligand therapy (RLT) the moment they secure EMA approval, even as pricing and reimbursement talks continue in parallel. Her wide-ranging interview reveals how the current average 597-day gap between approval and access undermines outcomes and erodes Europe’s historic leadership in biomedical innovation.

Zemzoum reframes healthcare expenditure as an investment in societal productivity, resilience, and wellbeing rather than a line item to be minimized. This shift grows more critical as the United States and China pour targeted resources into biotechnology, intensifying competitive pressure on European systems.

Physician Insight Driving Practical Reform

Drawing on more than 20 years as a practicing physician and multinational executive across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, Zemzoum grounds her recommendations in frontline clinical reality and comparative system analysis. She combines these lived perspectives with hard data from the EFPIA WAIT Indicator and national experiments such as Germany’s AMNOG process to argue for smarter, faster pathways.

RLT as the Ultimate Stress Test

Radioligand therapy, with its patient-specific manufacturing, narrow radioactive decay windows, and specialized nuclear-medicine requirements, exposes the limitations of fragmented reimbursement models. Countries that have introduced parallel processing, provisional oncology approvals, or early equitable access routes prove that patient access innovation is achievable without sacrificing scientific rigor or national budgetary control; Novartis is matching this momentum by building local RLT production sites and treating over 43 million European patients annually.

The forthcoming EU Joint Clinical Assessment offers a rare chance to cut duplicative reviews, shorten timelines, and embed patient access innovation at the heart of European policy. Success will depend on genuine collaboration among governments, payers, physicians, and industry to create health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) frameworks that respect complexity while preserving sovereign reimbursement decisions, ultimately safeguarding Europe’s contribution to global medical progress.

Call to Collaborative Action

Sustained dialogue between developers and frontline clinicians will remain essential for capturing real-world evidence on treatment performance, quality of life, and optimal patient selection. Only through such partnership can Europe build agile, responsible systems that deliver tomorrow’s therapies today.