Domestic pharmaceutical production: sticks in the wheels
Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers are losing motivation to implement import substitution programs
General Director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (ARFP) Viktor Dmitriev took part in a meeting with the participation of the Minister of Industry and Trade V.B.Khristenko, held on March 13 at the Himrar Central Exhibition Center. The meeting was devoted to the development of import substitution in the pharmaceutical industry, which have become particularly relevant due to the devaluation of the ruble and the decline in the solvency of the population.
General Director of ARFP V.Dmitriev made a report on the current state of import substitution in the Russian pharmaceutical industry and its prospects. According to the ARFP, which represents the interests of companies providing about 60% of medicines produced in the country, there are currently no mechanisms that encourage Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers to implement import substitution programs.
"Import substitution processes in the pharmaceutical industry are a vivid example of the discrepancy between the declarative protectionist policy and real steps to stimulate the national pharmaceutical industry on the part of the state," V. Dmitriev said at the meeting. – The state has repeatedly declared the need to implement import substitution programs. Advanced domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers, having invested considerable sums in the implementation of these programs – both in the field of R&D and in relation to the modernization of production facilities – have begun to produce analogues of imported drugs, but local pharmaceutical manufacturers cannot "break through" with their products into public procurement."
According to the data of the CMI "Pharmakpert", according to the results of 2008, the share of Russian drugs in the ONLS (DLO) program decreased to 4%.
Viktor Dmitriev presented at the meeting data on the prices of medicines of ARFP member companies in comparison with foreign analogues, which clearly indicate that the products of local pharmaceutical manufacturers have pronounced pharmacoeconomical advantages over foreign drugs. At the same time, we are talking not only about simple generics, but also about high-tech drugs used in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, etc. For example, when switching from expensive imported analogues to domestic recombinant erythropoietin, state budget savings may amount to about $20 million per year while maintaining the same number of patients.
According to the ARFP, it is necessary to develop a model of budget procurement of medicines, which should not allow foreign manufacturers to participate in auctions for the supply of medicines for state and municipal needs if there are three or more Russian drugs. Other stimulating mechanisms of import substitution may be the formation of a state order for the production of domestic analogues of imported drugs, simplification of the procedure for their registration. At the same time, it is necessary to develop the main directions of import substitution, to determine the nomenclature of medicines that are in demand and economically feasible for the production in Russia, primarily drugs included in federal target programs (antibiotics, insulins, etc.), the volume of consumption and needs for these medicines, the possibilities of existing production facilities to cover all the needs of the nomenclature.
According to V. Dmitriev, "a more active participation of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers in import substitution programs will give a number of economic and social advantages both for the state and for the domestic pharmaceutical industry: saving the state budget in public procurement, preserving and creating jobs, increasing the tax base, reinvesting potential profits in research activities, bringing production to compliance with GMP standards, construction of new sites, etc. It is only necessary for the state to show that it is interested in developing the production of import-substituting medicines."
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru according to the ARFP press center
17.03.2009