Analytical company RNC Pharma has presented a summary of drug production in Russia for 2022. The detailed statistics are published on the company’s website.
The total volume of finished drug production in Russia in 2022 reached 668.8 billion rubles (in the prices of manufacturers’ shipments, including VAT). The y-o-y growth rate is relatively modest, at 7.1%, if calculations are made in rubles. The increase in natural units is even lower, slightly above 1%: in total, the Russian pharmaceutical industry shipped about 4.17 billion packs of finished drugs. The indicator of the fractional level for packages did not undergo serious changes last year, so the growth rate in minimum dosage units was approximately at the same level (+1.7%). In total, by the end of 2022, Russian companies produced 79.6 bn units of drugs.
Shipments in December 2022 were among the worst in the last 12 years: the production of finished medicines in our country fell by 33.8% y-o-y in rubles, to 51.7 billion rubles. The growth in natural units also plummeted: -10.4% in packages and -4.6% in Minimum Dispensing Units, which is, certainly, not an absolute minimum, but the figures are quite dramatic. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that the comparison period experienced the effect of the covid factor and, of course, one should remember a number of consumption specifics typical for different periods of 2022.
The total number of suppliers grew by 29 by the end of 2022, reaching a total of 432 organizations. Not all of them have their own production facilities: some are only holders of registration certificates. The new companies that demonstrated maximum sales growth in natural units in the analyzed period were OOO Treugolnik (operating at the facilities of PFK Obnovleniie in Novosibirsk) and OOO Mikfetin (based on Vips-Med in the Moscow Region). The general assortment also continued to develop: in 2022 the Russian pharmaceutical industry shipped 1,436 INNs (88 more than in 2021) and 2,823 trademarks (+183).
Prescription drugs production in the analyzed period decreased by 5.5% in packages, although the characteristics of packages have somewhat changed, so there was still some growth in minimum dosage units, as well as in comparable units, with a y-o-y increase of 0.6%. The absolute leader in terms of the growth of shipments was the combined levodopa / carbidopa drug (an increase of 342 times in packages), in particular due to the start of local production of Nacom by Novartis at its enterprise in St. Petersburg. The second vivid example was associated with the start of production of triptorelin (growth by 20 times) at Pharmstandard facility in Ufa, branded Triptorelin-Long, although the manufacturing was actually resumed: the drug had previously been produced at Nativy in the Moscow region.
The volume of production of over-the-counter drugs increased by 7.2% y-o-y in packages, while the growth in minimum marketed doses (MMD) is less pronounced, at 2.9%. The absolute record holder in the category was Raunatin, a Rauwolfia alkaloids drug (an increase of 15.7 times in packages) manufactured by Vifitekh. The second position in the top belongs to the combination of algeldrate / magnesium hydroxide. Its shipments were provided by three manufacturers, with the maximum contribution to the growth ensured ABBA Pharmaceutical’s Malvacid and PharmVILAR’s Bi-Coden. Nonoxynol is closing the top three (with a 9.9 times increase). The drug is produced in Germany, and only its packaging is done in Russia, at Altpharm near Moscow.
