Janssen and R-Pharm to compete for $45 million contract in Russia

Russian drugmaker R-Pharm plans to compete with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, part of US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), for the almost 3 billion-rouble ($45 million) state contract on the supply of an analogue of Janssen’s HIV drug darunavir, trade name Prezista.

To date, R-Pharm has already registered its generic, planning to start production of its finished form and packaging at its facilities in Yaroslavl, using active substances from the Indian firm MSN Pharmachem.

In 2016, a similar drug was registered by a subsidiary of R-Pharm - Technology of Drugs -which was planning to produce it at a factory in Khimki with active substance from another Indian company - Milen Laboratoriz. However, the launch of the generic was not successful, as the manufacturer of the original drug, Janssen, sued it for the violation of exclusive rights. The plaintiff found that the structure R-Pharm uses in its analogue invention is under patent protection until mid-May 2023. In May 2018, the parties reached a settlement agreement.