R-Pharm intends to localize the production of Chinese medical equipment in Russia, reports Forbes, citing the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s CEO and co-owner (owns 33% of R-Pharm JSC) Vasily Ignatiev.
According to him, the company previously planned to localize the production of Japanese medical equipment from Canon Medical, but the project was suspended in 2022, and the relationship with the partner continued operating in distribution format.
“Currently, we are working with a number of other foreign partners, developing the medical equipment segment, and planning to deeply localize its production in Russia. We cooperate both with China and with other countries. We are gradually approaching the creation of domestic production of computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners with the integration of a Russian component base,” he said.
As Ignatiev explained, these are Chinese manufacturers already present on the U.S. market. He did not name the companies but noted that they “are approximately at the same level as the ‘big four'” (world leaders in supplying heavy medical equipment: GE, Siemens, Philips, and Canon — ed.). Furthermore, R-Pharm continues cooperation with China as one of the world’s largest suppliers of pharmaceutical substances. Specifically, the Russian company purchases semaglutide for “Segluriya,” its analogue of Danish Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, from Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical. “Even though we consider this project our own, it is manufactured from a Chinese molecule,” the R-Pharm CEO noted.
