Harmonizing regulatory market approval of products with high safety requirements: Evidence from the European pharmaceutical market

We causally analyzed whether being a member of the European Union (EU) and having access to a centralized marketing authorization procedure (centralized procedure [CP]) affects availability and time to launch of new pharmaceuticals. We employed multiple difference-in-differences models, exploiting the eastern enlargement of the EU as well as changes in the indications that fall within the compulsory or voluntary scope of the CP. Results showed that countries experienced a mean decrease in launch delay of 10.9 months (p = 0.004) after joining the EU. Effects were higher among pharmaceuticals that belong to indications that might voluntarily participate in the CP but are not obliged to. These are often financially less attractive to manufacturers than pharmaceuticals within the compulsory scope. Availability of new pharmaceuticals launched remained unaffected. We found signs that the magnitude of the country-specific effect of centralized marketing authorization on launch delay may be influenced by strategic decisions of manufacturers at the national level (e.g., parallel trade or reference pricing).