Ministry of Health: pharmaceutical companies can reproduce almost the entire range of foreign drugs

The Russian pharmaceutical industry can reproduce almost the entire range of foreign drugs, Deputy Minister of Health Sergei Glagolev said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

“We can say that almost the entire range of foreign drugs can be reproduced by it (the pharmaceutical industry), innovative drugs can be created,” he said (quote according to TASS).

The main limitation, according to the official, is the patent law. At the same time, the interdepartmental commission, assessing the sufficiency of drugs at all stages of the distribution network, sometimes fixes their shortage, and “health care becomes dependent on the decision to continue or not to continue deliveries and we do not allow this situation.”

As Vedomosti wrote earlier, the Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of the Eurasian Economic Union (AFPEAES) suggested limit the issuance of “evergreen patents”, leaving them only for those drugs whose properties were previously unknown, which will allow “taking advantage of the experience of other states to achieve technological sovereignty in the pharmaceutical industry,” the study explains. The association applied to Rospatent with a corresponding request at the end of 2022.

In February, Vedomosti, with reference to the presentation of DSM Group wrotethat the volume of the pharmaceutical market at the end of 2022 amounted to 2.57 trillion rubles. It was noted that this is 12% higher than the figures for the year before last.