According to Viktor Dmitriev, a member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Director General of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (ARPM), in the context of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the Russian pharmaceutical industry is facing problems related to payment and delivery of raw materials for the production of medicines.
“So far, no significant changes have occurred. But, for example, we are already not getting the raw pharmaceutical substances from Europe that we have already paid for: drivers do not go to Russia as they are afraid of problems. Therefore, we urgently need to revise our logistics schemes. Moreover, suppliers are already asking for 100% prepayment, which is not allowed by the currency control. We are still using the substances that were purchased earlier, so there are no problems yet, but the stock will last for two to four months. Later, the deliveries will be at a new price. And how much will the delivery cost?” URA.RU quotesDmitriev as saying.
As the Director General of the ARPM noted, imports account for 65-68% of the expenses on medicines, but the share of foreign medicines is no more than 30%. He also mentioned the risks that are now being discussed by the professional community.
“There are many issues to deal with. We are starting to discuss them both with regulators and with the banking sector, because normal business depends on many factors, including loans, fulfillment of obligations to counterparties, the dollar exchange rate, etc. Therefore, taking into account the risks that we see, we are starting to discuss that, as well as the way we should act in order to preserve the assortment and keep it affordable. But so far this is just about the things that might happen in the future,” Viktor Dmitriev summed up.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has not confirmed the information about interruptions in shipments of medicines to pharmacy chains. The Ministry also announced the readiness of the Russian Federation to import substitution of any nomenclature in industry.
The State Duma Committee on Health Protection will develop regulations to relax the conditions for issuing compulsory licenses for the production of patent-protected medicines. Licencing of Russian manufacturers will be allowed if the supply of imported drugs to the Russian Federation stops, or if the prices for them increase significantly.
As it became known before the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, due to the 30-40% rise in price of foreign pharmaceutical substances, prices for antibiotics may rise.