The pandemic ended for OTCPharm with a drop in sales

In the first five months of the year, sales of OTCPharm, a major manufacturer of Arbidol, which was actively used at the height of the pandemic, fell by almost a quarter. This is the most noticeable drop among the ten major pharmaceutical manufacturers operating in the Russian market. Competitors that also made drugs used in COVID-19 were able to rebuild capacities faster.

As follows from AlphaRM calculations available to Kommersant, in the top ten large pharmaceutical manufacturers operating in the Russian market, in January-May 2023, the most noticeable decrease in sales – by 23%, to 18.92 billion rubles – was shown by OTCPharm, associated with the owner of Pharmstandard Viktor Kharitonin. DSM Group also sees a drop in OTCPharm, which was especially pronounced in May, when total sales fell by 6.6% compared to April, to 3.32 billion rubles. The company did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

OTCPharm is one of the few Russian companies in the top 10. At the same time, another member of the list, Binnopharm Group, where the main shareholder of AFK Sistema, according to AlphaRM, increased sales by 29% over five months, to 13.79 billion rubles.

According to the results of five months of 2023, international pharmaceutical manufacturers from the top 10 also experience a decrease in sales in Russia, but not as strong as that of OTCPharm. So, Novartis gained 16.07 billion rubles, which is 15% less year-on-year, Bayer – by 11%, to 21.15 billion rubles, Sanofi – by 10%, to 15.62 billion rubles. The DSM Group notes that already in May compared to April, a number of companies from the top 10 showed growth, albeit insignificant: for example, Bayer — by almost 2%, to 4.73 billion rubles. due to the sale of mainly contraceptives and drugs for menopause, at Servier – by 3%, to 3.8 billion rubles. through the sale of drugs for hypertension.

Experts attribute a significant drop in sales at OTCPharm to a decrease in demand for antiviral drugs. During the pandemic, the company occupied almost half of the segment for the supply of such funds. One of the main drugs in the OTCPharm portfolio, Arbidol, according to AlphaRM, was considered the company’s best-selling brand even in 2022, when the incidence of COVID-19 was at a low level. But already in January-May of this year, AlphaRM notes, sales of funds fell by 65%, to 3.2 billion rubles. For comparison: over the same period in 2022, OTCPharm sold Arbidol for 9.22 billion rubles, which is twice as much year on year.

Arbidol has lost patent protection, and it is gradually being replaced by drugs from other manufacturers, says RNC Pharma Development Director Nikolai Bespalov. Now the share of antivirals in the total sales of OTCPharm does not exceed 20%, they add to AlphaRM.

If we compare the situation with Pfizer, the main supplier to many countries of Paxlovid, a remedy for COVID-19, then in the first quarter of 2023, as follows from the company’s statements, sales of the drug, on the contrary, increased one and a half times, to $ 4.1 billion. The manufacturer explains this is a strong demand for the drug in China, but forecasts a drop in its sales in general across all markets in the second quarter, expecting a surge in the fall with an increase in seasonal diseases. Interviewees of Kommersant call this situation indicative, but are not ready to compare sales of antiviral drugs by Pfizer and OTCPharm due to different positions of the companies and their markets.

OTCPharm can now re-profile the production of drugs for COVID-19, Nikolai Bespalov believes, since the company has the equipment to produce, for example, drugs with monoclonal antibodies. According to him, other Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers are already doing this, supplying antiviral drugs during the pandemic.

Biocad, which produced the Sputnik V and Levilimab vaccine under contract (also used against COVID-19), told Kommersant that they have now used these facilities to produce drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. R-Pharm, which supplied Artlegia to medical facilities during the pandemic, says they continue to produce the drug, as it was initially recommended for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Ekaterina Rakitina