Manufacturers of the platinum-containing chemotherapy drug carboplatin will release additional batches of the drug onto the market at the request of the Russian Ministry of Health, writes Vedomosti.
Promomed plans to introduce the first packages into civilian circulation in two weeks, and the largest Russian carboplatin manufacturer, Biocad, will do so “in the near future.”
The need for additional release arose against the backdrop of increasing complaints from cancer patients about supply disruptions of carboplatin to pharmacies in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Calls regarding the absence of carboplatin and cisplatin began in November 2025, and by January 2026 the situation had escalated, said Irina Borovova, president of the Zdravstvui! association of cancer patients. The Ministry of Health informed her that the agency was working on solving the supply problem. “We are preparing a follow-up inquiry to understand what specific measures have been taken, because the stream of calls from patients has not stopped,” said Borovova.
IT company Cursor had previously reported on possible supply issues with platinum-containing drugs (besides carboplatin, these are cisplatin and oxaliplatin). According to the Central Bank of Russia, since the beginning of 2024, the price of 1 gram of platinum has more than doubled—from 2,600 to 5,500 rubles. A few days ago, on January 26, the price of platinum hit a new record, reaching $2,900 per ounce according to the US Comex exchange (about 7,100 rubles per gram at an exchange rate of 76 rubles per $1).
“Given the multiple-fold increase in metal prices, there is a complete lack of profitability in carboplatin production. The price of 1 mg of platinum in the drug at maximum registered prices is on average 42% below the current market price of the metal,” states the Cursor report. According to analysts’ estimates, to ensure the profitability of domestic producers, the maximum registered prices for carboplatin need to be increased by 70–100%.
As reported by the Ministry of Health, at the request of manufacturers, the drug price was re-registered taking into account an analysis by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia. In January, this was successfully done for Biocad, Promomed, and the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology. As a result, the maximum price for Biocad’s drug, for example, is set in the range from 784 to 2,600 rubles depending on the vial volume. The 5-milliliter package became 116% more expensive, 15 ml — 71%, 45 ml — 59%.
The main suppliers of carboplatin in 2025 were Biocad (44% of the total volume in packages), Pharmasintez (28%), Veropharm (19%), and the Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology (9%).
