COVID-19 reminded of itself – Newspaper Kommersant No. 155 (7356) of 08/25/2022

Against the background of a new surge in the incidence of COVID-19, regional authorities began to purchase a drug containing nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, which was recently registered and included in the recommended coronavirus treatment regimens. This tool was developed by Pfizer, but three drugs with similar active ingredients are registered in Russia. So far, the authorities have settled on the purchase of Vikram Punia’s “Mirobivir” produced by Pharmasyntez, which is more expensive than some other drugs. This will allow the company to increase its market share in the COVID-19 drugs market, as well as Promomed, which also registered its drug based on nirmatrelvir.

Regional public procurement operators in July-August for the first time purchased Mirobivir (a combination of nirmatrelvir with ritonavir) – an analogue of Paxlovid from Pfizer, Kommersant found in the public procurement system. Thus, the Moscow Department of Health and the Procurement Department of the Penza Region purchased this drug for a total of 15.6 million rubles. A package of 30 tablets of the medicine produced by Pharmasyntez cost the regional budgets 14.9 thousand and 13.5 thousand rubles. respectively.

The drug is not yet included in the list of vital. But Pharmasyntez submitted an application for its inclusion with a maximum price of about 11 thousand rubles, Vikram Punia, the president of the group, told Kommersant.

Paxlovid, developed by the American Pfizer, is approved in more than 65 countries for the treatment of COVID-19 in patients with an increased risk of developing the disease to a more severe stage. The company has been conducting studies of its drug in tablets in Russia, but information about its registration in the state register of medicines has not yet appeared. Pfizer declined to comment.

But in addition to Mirobivir, two more analogues of Paxlovid have been registered in the Russian Federation since April – Skyvir from Promomed and Nirmatrelvir PSK, which has not yet been put into circulation, from PSK Pharma. Promomeda has not yet participated in auctions, although, according to the company’s press service, there are about 10,000 packages of Skyvira in warehouses.

In Russia, the combination nirmatrelvir + ritonavir was included in the updated COVID-19 treatment regimens recommended by the Ministry of Health in August this year. And in February, molnupiravir tablets, which are used mainly in outpatient treatment, were included in the protocols for the treatment of coronavirus infection. This tool was developed by the American MSD, but in Russia it has six local analogues registered, including those from Pharmasyntez and Promomed.

Pharmasyntez has a weak position in the supply of molnupiravir for state needs. For the first half of the year, state customers purchased the drug, according to Headway Company, for 9.3 billion rubles, of which 56.6 million rubles, or 0.6% of the total volume of purchases, fell to Kovipir from Pharmasintez. The leader in this segment was Esperavir from Promomed (78.4%).

Mirobivir is now a priority for Pharmasyntez than Kovipir, explains Mr. Punia. “In our opinion, this is the preferred treatment option for outpatients with COVID-19 due to the lack of side effects,” he says. The registered marginal price of Kovipir for 40 tablets is 5.8 thousand rubles, which is much lower than the cost of Mirobivir. But the combination of nirmatrelvir with ritonavir is a more modern drug that can squeeze out the drugs used during the first waves of the pandemic on the public procurement market – favipiravir and molnupiravir, says Nikolay Bespalov, development director at RNC Pharma.

Despite the increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in Russia, sales of medicines for coronavirus infection both in the state segment and in retail in July and for two weeks in August this year are significantly behind last year’s level, follows from data from Headway Company and DSM Group. Nevertheless, DSM Group CEO Sergey Shulyak predicts that sales of such drugs, including nirmatrelvir, will grow: “The coronavirus has not gone away yet, the number of cases requiring treatment is not decreasing.”

Polina Gritsenko