Drug sales in Russia steadily grow this year

Print 15 November 2017
Remedium

Drug sales in Russia are steadily growing this year, according to latest data of the Russian Ministry of Health, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

For the 9 months of the current year drug sales in Russia grew by 13.7% on year-on-year basis to 3.3 billion packs in value terms.

In value terms, the growth in sales was equivalent to 13.3%. The majority of sales accounted for drugs against cold-related diseases and viruses.

The average cost of a drug package in Russia in October 2017 was 146.4 roubles ($2.52).

Director of the Russian Institute of Healthcare and Medical Management David Melik-Huseynov said Russians have made significant reserves of drugs during the times of the crisis in the country, amid the fears of further rise in prices for them, triggered by the crisis, however most of these reserves have been exhausted by now, which forces consumers to increase their drug purchases.

Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Health were not available for additional comments.

St Petersburg will become center of Russian pharmaceutical production this year

Meantime, the city of St Petersburg is expected to become a center of Russian pharmaceutical production as soon as the end of the current year, thanks to the planned commissioning of at least three large-scale pharmaceutical facilities within the territory of the city.

According to recent statements by the chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee for Industrial Policy and Innovation, Maxim Meixin, companies such as Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX), Gerofarm and Orion Medik intend to organize the commercial production of a number of their drugs and equipment in St Petersburg by the end of 2017.

In the case of Novartis and Orion Medik, new production will be launched within the territory of the Novorolovskaya special economic zone. Novartis plans to launch commercial production of its drugs by the end of November, while Orion Medikwill do so in December.

As for Geropharm, the company will begin mass production of pharmaceutical substances and original drugs already this month, while starting from 2018 will start the production of insulin.

According to Mr Meixin, currently St Petersburg pharmaceutical cluster includes 148 companies. Last year its exports amounted to 1.7 billion roubles and there is a possibility these figures will significantly increase this year. 

Source

Return