R-Pharm and international pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s have signed an agreement to bring the cancer drug toripalimab to the Russian market. All stages of finished dosage form production will be localised at the Russian drugmaker’s facilities. Registration of the drug in Russia is expected in 2027, R-Pharm’s press service told GxP News.
Localizing production ensures reliable supply, while portfolio expansion gives doctors the ability to choose treatment regimens even for hard-to-treat tumours, said Vadim Ryabokon, vice president of R-Pharm.
Toripalimab belongs to the class of immune checkpoint inhibitors. The drug is used to treat a wide range of malignant tumours, including rare forms such as nasopharyngeal and oesophageal cancer. Its mechanism of action is based on blocking the PD-1 receptor on the surface of T-cells, thereby activating the immune system to attack cancer cells.
The drug was first registered in China in 2018 by Junshi Biosciences. It received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in October 2023 and approval from the European Medicines Agency in September 2024.
Dr. Reddy’s has acquired a licence to commercialise toripalimab and developed a strategy for launching it in 21 countries. The drug has currently been launched in India and Australia.
According to Cursor, an IT company which specialises in analysing drug tender purchases, total procurement of oncology drugs in Russia in 2025 reached 400.2 billion roubles, up 4.5% from 2024. The bulk of this amount came from drugs in group L01 (348.9 billion roubles). Purchases of biological and biotech drugs rose to 190.1 billion roubles (+6.8%), with their share reaching 47.5%. The most procured INN was pembrolizumab (25.4 billion roubles, +21.2%).
In 2025, R-Pharm’s revenue rose 14.1% to 168.2 billion roubles, with net profit of 13.3 billion roubles (up 26.7%). The company’s share of the hospital procurement market reached 3.2%, placing it sixth among suppliers. R-Pharm and Dr. Reddy’s have been cooperating since 2010.
