Russia’s Health Ministry has granted Promomed a marketing authorisation for upadacitinib – an analogue of AbbVie’s Rinvoq. The drug belongs to the class of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, is intended for rheumatoid arthritis and has already been included on the list of vital and essential drugs. According to the state medicines registry, the registration certificate is valid until June 2031.
The generic will be manufactured at Promomed’s own plant, Biochemist, in Mordovia. The active pharmaceutical ingredient will be both produced at the plant and sourced from India’s Metrochem. The drug will be available as 30 mg extended‑release tablets.
The original Rinvoq was first registered in the United States in August 2019, initially for rheumatoid arthritis. The FDA later expanded its indications to include psoriatic arthritis, atopic dermatitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions. Global sales of the drug reached $8.3 billion in 2025, up from $5.97 billion in 2024.
Rinvoq was registered in Russia in 2019. According to analytics firm Cursor, Russian procurement of the drug totalled 3.2 billion roubles last year, up 27% from the previous year. Total procurement of all JAK inhibitors between 2023 and 2025 reached 27.7 billion roubles, with the market growing 38% over that period.
Earlier, Biochemist – Promomed’s main manufacturing facility – said it would produce upadacitinib under an offset contract with the Mordovia authorities. The agreement guarantees procurement of the drug in the region until 2035 and obliges the manufacturer to develop the republic’s pharmaceutical infrastructure. In addition to upadacitinib, the contract includes eight other drugs for diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.
Promomed is steadily expanding its portfolio of high‑tech drugs, focusing on full‑cycle production at its Biochemist plant in Saransk. The priority is treating severe autoimmune diseases: the company already markets analogues of original JAK inhibitors, including baricitinib, tofacitinib and ruxolitinib.
