The Ministry of Health Commission approved the inclusion of two Biocad drugs in the list of vitally important

At a meeting today, February 8, the profile commission of the Ministry of Health approved the inclusion of two Biocad drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis in the lists of vitally important (VED) and high-cost nosologies (HCN). Divosilimab is recommended for inclusion with a maximum price of 181.8 thousand rubles. per package, sampeginterferon beta-1a – 17.8 thousand rubles. The commission’s decision is not final: updating the lists must be approved by the government by a special resolution. The last time the government updated the list of vital and essential drugs was in June 2023.

The commission met for the first time in a year, although previously it was held once a quarter. In 2023, the Ministry of Health postponed the meeting several times. Because of this, five industry associations contacted Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin (see below). “Kommersant” dated December 25). And “Biocad” complained about the chairman of the commission, Deputy Minister of Health Sergei Glagolev to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and also filed a claim against him in the Moscow Arbitration Court to declare the official’s inaction illegal.

Without inclusion in the lists of Vital and Essential Drugs and VNV, drugs can be purchased at government tenders in limited quantities. But at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Health already purchased the drug ocrelizumab from Roche from the same group as divosilimab for the “14 VZN” program for two years in advance for a total amount of 13.2 billion rubles.

In addition to the Biocad drugs, the commission approved for inclusion in the Vital and Essential Drugs the drug Promomeda to prevent cytokine storm in COVID-19, a combined antibiotic based on cefepime and sulbactam from Alpharma and Promomed, and a combination of lamivudine + phosphazide against HIV from AZT Pharma “

Polina Gritsenko