Health lowers the price of 17,385 medications

He Ministry of Health has updated the reference pricing system for medicines in the National Health System (SNS) by 2025, a measure that affects 17,385 presentations of medicines and will mean a estimated savings of 287.58 million euros.

He Official State Gazette (BOE) This Monday the Order of the Ministry of Health was published, which reviews the prices of 13,871 dispensable presentations in pharmacies and another 3,514 in hospitals. The total estimated savings with this measure is divided into 57.17 million euros in hospital medications and 230.41 million in those dispensed in pharmacies.

In addition, it creates 14 new sets of drug presentations that are dispensed in pharmacies and 12 sets of drug presentations for hospital settings; and reviews the reference prices of the already existing sets, which correspond to 451 dispensable medicines in pharmacies and 259 hospital-based ones. It also eliminates 35 sets of drug presentations, 14 in pharmacies and 21 in hospitals.

This ministerial order updates the sets and reference prices established by Order SND/1074/2024, of October 2, the last review of the reference price system that took place. The update It is carried out on an annual basis.

Health has explained that the reference price of the sets is calculated based on the lowest cost per treatment and day of the presentations included in each one. To guarantee the supply of certain medications and their permanence in the pharmaceutical provision of the SNS, exceptional mechanisms have been articulated to the general calculation rule.

He Weighted Reference Price It applies to presentations with special dosages, serious illnesses or whose prices have been reviewed in the last two years due to lack of profitability by the Interministerial Commission on Drug Prices.

Minimum reference price: 1.60 euros

For its part, the Minimum Reference Price of each presentation has been set at 1.60 euros. In addition, the Non-Review of Drug Prices has been applied to medications considered essential by the World Health Organization (WHO) because they cover priority health needs of the population and must be available at all times. This measure affects 38 reference sets and, specifically, 338 presentations.

The Ministry has specified that the laboratories must supply the medicines at their new industrial reference price starting this Tuesday. Meanwhile, distributors will maintain the distributor’s sales price prior to this reduction for a period of 20 calendar days.

With regard to pharmacies, they will dispense at the retail price prior to this reduction until November 30, 2025. Billings for official prescriptions to the National Health System will be settled with the new prices, including those corresponding to civil servants’ mutual societies, closed as of December 1, 2025.

The Reference Price System (SPR) was implemented two decades ago in Spain, with the aim of controlling the prices of financed medicines and contributing to the sustainability of the SNS.