Gedeon Richter to vye for stake in Russian hypoglycemic market

Hungarian drugmaker Gedeon Richter (RICHT: HB) has begun supplying generics of foreign drugs for diabetics to Russia – in a move to take the share of those global drugmakers that have left Russia, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

As part of this, Gedeon Richter has decided to launch three generics to the Russian market at once from foreign pharmaceutical companies that have stopped their activities in Russia.

A representative of Gedeon Richter said in an interview with the Russian Vedomosti business paper that, among them, are generics of drugs such as Januvia (sitagliptin), from the MSD, the trading name of US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) outside of Canada and the USA, as well as Galvus (vildagliptin) and Galvus met (a combination of vildagliptin and metformin hydrochloride) from the Swiss giant Novartis (NOVN: VX). These drugs are prescribed for type 2 diabetes to normalize blood glucose levels. Deliveries of generics of these drugs have already begun.