Pharmaceutical companies warned of impending drug shortages

The Association of Domestic Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and the All-Russian Union of Patients (VSP) have addressed the Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with an official letter, in which they expressed concern about the new mechanism of state procurement of drugs.

As the co-chairman of the All-Russian Union of Patients, Yuri Zhulev, told Izvestia , the screening of drugs in public procurement will affect patients, limiting their choice.

The mechanism for state procurement of drugs proposed by the government assumes that the privileges will be given to companies that have a full cycle production with the synthesis of a substance in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Pharmaceutical manufacturers believe that such restrictions could lead to drug shortages in pharmacies.

"The country runs the risk of being left without certain drugs altogether if the full cycle manufacturer cannot meet the need for the entire health care system, which, in fact, is already happening, for example, in the case of drugs for the treatment of cancer," the publication quotes the words of the executive director of the association. Hope Daragan.

Some patients, after taking “replacement” purchased drugs, have negative side effects, and they have to spend a lot of time and effort proving their right to a foreign analogue. Meanwhile, for the health of many patients, the time factor is of decisive importance.

Earlier it was reported that in 2015, the Russian Federation approved a list of imported medical devices, limiting state and municipal purchases on the basis of the "third extra" principle. If the competition received at least two applications from the EAEU producers, then foreign companies could no longer take part in such purchases.

In the fall of last year, a shortage of antiviral drugs and antibiotics was formed in Russian pharmacies. It was associated not only with the high demand for them in the autumn-winter period, but also with the introduction of mandatory labeling, which led to disruptions in the supply of drugs.