Russia eyeing procurement of Roche's SMA drug

The Russian government may expand the list of purchased high-priced drugs for its needs by beginning purchases of risdiplam – a drug for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent

Several days ago the Commission on the Formation of Lists of Drugs of the Russian Ministry of Health recommended the national government to include a second drug for the treatment of SMA, Evrysdi (risdiplam) which is produced by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), in the list of essential and vital drugs in the Russian market.

According to some local analysts, the inclusion of risdiplam in the list of essential drugs will help adult patients with SMA to a greater extent, as for the majority of them procurements of the drug, so far, have been carried from regional budgets, which funding has significantly declined in recent months.