In January-March, pharmacy chains throughout the country sold 20 million packages of antihistamines used for allergies, 2,4% less than last year. For comparison, in the first quarter of 2024, natural sales of antihistamines in the pharmaceutical retail increased by 9,9% year-on-year, Kommersant writes, citing data from the analytical company DSM Group. This is the first decrease in demand for anti-allergic products in the last two years. Experts do not rule out that the decline in sales is due to unstable weather.
The beginning of 2025 broke the usual trend — the pharmaceutical market usually records an increase in sales of antihistamines during this season, mainly due to the desire of people living with allergy to prepare for the season, but the current dynamics turned out to be the opposite. In the first three months of 2024, sales of this category in physical terms increased by 9,9%, to 20,5 million packages, and in monetary terms by 20,2%, to about 5 billion rubles.
Sergey Shulyak, general director of the DSM Group, attributed this trend to the weather, which is not typical for this time of the year. According to him, the blossoming season was affected by unstable weather conditions. Shulyak predicts a shift in demand for late April and early May. Allergologists interviewed by the publication agree with this. They suggest that this year «patients suffered due to unstable weather, because they did not quite understand when to take antihistamines».
However, doctors did not notice a reduction in the number of allergy sufferers’ visits. According to them, few patients still use first-generation allergy medications. They prefer more advanced antihistamines that do not cause drowsiness, as well as nasal sprays with sea salt solution and topical hormones. However, Suprastin does not give up its position, keeping the second place in the ranking of the most popular allergy medications.
Teraligen, Cetrin, Donormil and Zodak are also among the top 5 antihistamines in terms of sales. However, analysts still attributed the popularity of Teraligen among patients to its second indication. It is a neuroleptic that is used to treat anxiety and depressive disorders, although it is often used as an allergy drug.
The media previously reported that Moscow pharmacies were faced with a shortage of the popular drugs Allergodil and Cromohexal, which are used in the form of nasal and eye drops to relieve allergy symptoms. Customers complained that the drugs are not available, even online.
