Roche set to benefit from centralized procurements of Ocrevus in Russia

The Russian Ministry of Health has begun centralized procurements of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) - a drug for the treatment of the most severe form of multiple sclerosis, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

It is planned that total amount of contracts at the initial stage may reach 3.6 billion ($45 million) with a possibility of a significant increase in due course. As part of these plans, up to 3.500 annual courses of the drug will be purchased.

The centralized procurements of Ocrevus began for the first time in Russia under the high-cost nosologies program this year, while previously most of the purchases were conducted by Russian regional authorities, with the total amount of signed contracts worth 500-600 million roubles.