OBJECTIVES: The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) has issued national therapeutic positioning reports (TPRs) for new medicines since 2013. These are comparative efficacy and safety reports which specify the patient population that will benefit most from new medicines. These were introduced to make access decision-making more transparent and consistent across regions. TPRs are developed by regional autonomous communities, alongside AEMPS, with different regions involved in the development of each TPR. This research evaluates whether the outcomes of these increasingly important TPRs varies depending on which regional autonomous communities were participating authors.

METHODS: Publicly-available TPR decisions were identified from www.aemps.gob.es and key information extracted (01-January-2022–24-June-2022)

RESULTS: 53 TPRs were identified. 28/53 (53%) were resolutions for funding, 18/53 (34%) were for no funding and 7/53 (13%) did not include any specific funding recommendations. 33/53 (62%) were developed by at least 1 autonomous region. 21/33 (64%) involved a single region, 5/33 (15%) involved two, 4/33 (12%) involved three, and 3/33 (9%) involved four. 12/21 (57%) of those involving only one region received funding recommendations versus 3/12 (25%) of those involving two or more regions. All 17 regions were involved in at least one TPR. 7/17 (41%) regions were only involved in one and 4/17 (24%) were only involved in two. The three most involved regions were Andalucía (17 TPRs, 47% positive funding resolutions), Basque (8 TPRs, 25% positive), and Catalonia (6 TPRs, 50% positive).

CONCLUSIONS: Involvement of autonomous regions varies across different TPRs with some involving up to four regions. Although all regions have participated in at least one TPR in 2022, involvement is concentrated amongst a select few regions. Although the sample size is too low to indicate whether there is any significant difference in outcomes by regions involved, future research can better shed light on any variation in this regard.