Russian-made medicines account for up to 72% of public procurement in Russia

In 2017, the public procurement of medicines decreased slightly (with stronger decline in physical rather than monetary terms) and amounted to 340 billion rubles and 0.88 billion packages. These figures were reported in the review of public procurement of medicines for 2017.

Prescription drugs accounted for about 98% of procurement in monetary terms and 90% in physical terms. Russian-made medicines accounted to 72% of procurement in terms of packages or 45% in monetary terms. More than 80% of medicinal products in the public segment (both in monetary and physical terms) are included in the List of Vital and Essential Drugs.

SG Biotech was the most prominent among the manufacturers of drugs shipped to state health facilities following the public procurement. This joint venture between Generium, a Russian biotech company, and Shire, an Irish pharmaceutical company, was registered in Russia in 2016 to supply drugs for hemophilia included in the list of high-cost nosologies. 2017 was a successful year for SG Biotech, as it jumped from 16th to the 9th position in the ranking. Among Top 20 companies, the most significant decline was reported for Celgene, which dropped by 8 positions in the ranking. This is associated with the price reduction for lenalidomide, its flagship INN, caused by the emergence of competitors in the auctions.