The shortage of palbociclib at the Oncology Clinic in 2026 followed a doubling in the number of patients seeking the drug, while the first supply tender failed because it attracted no bidders. Health Minister Arben Vitia said this during a parliamentary interpellation concerning the death of a breast cancer patient who had gone four months without treatment.
Responding to questions from PDK lawmaker Sala Jashari about the case and the shortage of cancer medicines, Vitia said palbociclib was added to Kosovo’s Essential Medicines List for the first time in 2025. Preparations to secure the drug began immediately, he said, and the quantity was planned on the basis of the Oncology Clinic’s requests at the time, which covered 40 patients.
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The Ministry of Health requested additional funds from the Ministry of Finance, and the request was approved, Vitia said. Once the procedures were completed, a contract was signed on July 17, and the first shipment reached the central pharmacy in Çekukë in mid-August 2025. Demand then proved higher than expected: patients who had previously obtained the drug privately began requesting it from the Oncology Clinic after it was added to the Essential Medicines List.
Vitia explained that, because institutions and parliament were not in place during 2025, no budget hearings were held and no budget was approved. He said this situation continued until March. Although a budget increase had been requested, the budget was approved under exceptional circumstances with the intention of revising it in May or June. That revision did not take place because parliament was dissolved in April and the country entered the election process ahead of the June 7 elections.
As demand doubled, the contract reached the legally permitted limit of 130% of its value within just nine months. According to the minister, the quantity expected to cover a full year at 100% usage was not enough because the number of patients had increased. A new procurement procedure could not begin without an approved budget. Once the budget law took effect and the funds were transferred, new tender procedures began immediately, taking into account how quickly the drug had been used.
The first procedure failed because there were no bidders, Vitia said. The tender was then reopened under expedited procedures; a contract was signed on July 30, 2026, and deliveries to the central pharmacy began on August 18 that year.
The minister acknowledged that the supply of medicines to the Oncology Clinic in 2026 was not at the level seen in 2024 and 2025. In addition to the circumstances he described regarding palbociclib, he cited the lack of marketing authorization for some medicines, delivery delays caused by procedures, tenders that failed for lack of bidders and, in some cases, bids exceeding the amount budgeted on the basis of the official list of medicine prices.
