Global drugmakers have been cutting Russian portfolios in recent years

Global drugmakers have significantly cut their portfolios in the Russian market in recent years due to the decline of profitability and low prices under public procurement programs.

Over the past five years, the number of foreign drugs sold in the Russian market has declined by 17.6%, according to a recent study by the Russian analytical company RNC Pharma. Since 2018 this figure have declined from 2,517 to only 2,073.

Nikolay Bespalov, RNC Pharma Development director, said in an interview with the Russian Vedomosti business paper, amid the ongoing import substitution foreign drugmakers are adjusting their portfolios in the Russian market. According to him, given the current economic situation, many have decided to abandon individual products or dosage forms if several Russian enterprises have started their own production. When Russian generics appear, it becomes economically unprofitable to continue imports of original drugs.