The Ministry of Health and Social Protection announced that medicine prices for 2026 have been approved in accordance with the current methodology and that no price increases are foreseen for alternative and sole medicines included in the Reimbursable Medicines List (RML).

According to the Medicines Pricing Commission (MPC), medicine prices are set annually based on Council of Ministers Decision No. 645, dated October 1, 2014, as amended. This decision defines the procedures to be followed by marketing authorization holders, as well as the criteria for setting reference prices.

For imported medicines, the reference price is determined based on the following elements: the lowest price among five reference countries (Italy, Greece, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Croatia), the retail price in the country of origin, or the price of medicines imported into Albania over the past 12 months. For generic medicines, the price must be up to 80% of the price of the originator medicine.

The Ministry emphasized that medicines for which price declarations were not submitted by October 31 cannot be included in the reimbursable medicines list for the following year. Meanwhile, medicines that are in the authorization process and have submitted price declarations within the deadline may be included once they obtain marketing authorization.

The final deadline for approving CIF/EXW prices for 2026 was December 31, 2025. The approved list has been officially forwarded to the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices and to the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF).

Based on Council of Ministers Decision No. 491, dated July 24, 2024, the CHIF has immediately reflected price reductions for alternative sole medicines, maintaining the long-standing practice and ensuring that the adjusted prices for 2026 are lower than those of 2025.