Government purchases of expensive drugs tripled

In the first half of 2022, a total of 98.4 billion rubles worth of contracts were signed in Russia under the high-cost nosology (VZN) program, according to a joint study by Headway analytical company and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. It says that this is three times more than it was in the same period last year. At the same time, the total budget of the program remained almost unchanged: in 2021 it amounted to 63.16 billion rubles. And this year, 66.9 billion rubles are provided for the program, contracts have already been concluded for the entire amount, a representative of the Ministry of Health said. The growth in the total amount of government contracts is associated with an increase in the number of long-term agreements, the study says. From the beginning of 2022 to August 5, the share of two- and three-year contracts under this program amounted to 32%. At the end of last year, it was at the level of 26%.

The number of multi-year contracts for the supply of medicines in 2023, judging by the study, is already higher than this year. If in 2022 22 two- and three-year contracts were concluded, then by 2023 there are already 32 of them. The number of international generic names under this program has almost doubled – now there are 17 of them. The number of suppliers under multi-year contracts has also doubled: in 2023 Eight Russian companies will provide patients with expensive medicines. These are Pharmimex (4.3 billion rubles), R-pharm (3.5 billion rubles), Biocad (3.5 billion rubles), Pharmstandard (2.7 billion rubles) , Primafarm (1.6 billion rubles), Irvin (0.6 billion rubles), CV Protek (0.4 billion rubles), Biopreparat (0.2 billion rubles).