“Most Russian companies follow the simple path” – Kommersant

The director of the Mendeleev Engineering Center of the Russian Chemical Technical University told Kommersant about what prevents small-scale chemical products for the pharmaceutical industry from developing in Russia Ratmir Dashkin.

— Does Russia have prospects for mass production of intermediates? What is this market like now?

— Companies engaged in large-scale chemicals are capable of producing products for pharmaceuticals. But the relatively small need for it on the part of the pharmaceutical industry is not comparable with the existing capacities of chemists. If we talk about fine and low-tonnage raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry, the Russian consumer market cannot compete with China in terms of volumes produced.

Domestically, it is economically feasible to produce raw materials only for those drugs that have just lost patent protection. Provided that the production of raw materials for these drugs has not yet been launched en masse in China. This usually takes two to three years. But taking into account the risks, most Russian companies follow the simple path, buying finished products in China and minimizing costs. The state, which is willing to pay for localization, can change the situation and give impetus to the development of production of both substances and initial reagents for them.

— Should the state constantly support the industry, or will the production of intermediates be able to achieve profitability, and then to export markets?

— There are products for which this is possible. And there are those whose production, even taking into account exports, will always be less than the production volumes in China. For example, antibiotics – it is almost impossible to catch up with Chinese manufacturers in this segment in terms of production volume. At the same time, making antibiotics domestically is important for national security.

— Which companies in Russia are already engaged in localizing the production of chemical raw materials for pharmaceutical substances?

— There are companies that are engaged in recrystallization or purification of Chinese raw materials, launching one or two stages of synthesis. However, examples of full cycle production, along the entire chain, are rare.

Among the companies that are engaged in synthesis, but do not produce the substances themselves, are our Mendeleev Engineering Center, MBI-Sintez, Volgokhimform, and the Perm Chemical Company. These are small companies that make three to five types of products on their sites and produce several tons of them.

— Do these small companies have enough capabilities to organize the production of intermediates if such a task is set?

— If these products have not been produced for a long time and, probably, we are talking about facilities that operated in the Soviet Union, do you think they will be competitive? Even if we assume that the factories have survived.

The problem with the capacities created back in Soviet times is that they were designed to produce products without taking into account the cost level that needs to be achieved now. Therefore, in any case, in order to organize the production of intermediates, a fairly large amount of investment is required.

— Are such chemical productions mostly Soviet?

— I don’t know of a single fully modern production facility that produces intermediates. In any case, this is the reconstruction, alteration and maintenance of existing capacities, in contrast to production at the last stages of the synthesis of substances, which have been updated. Because the requirements for recrystallization and purification have increased greatly. But chemical production itself is at approximately the same level as it was, and, as a result, requires large investments.

Interviewed by Polina Gritsenko