Leading Russian banks to help fund large-scale production of APIs

The Russian government together with some leading domestic financial corporations will provide support to domestic producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that will primarily be in the form of provision of preferential loans and other benefits for them, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

The new program involves participation of VEB.RF, one of Russia’s largest financial corporations and will help to start production of up to 145 types of active ingredients needed to produce socially significant drugs in Russia.

Most of active ingredients for the production of drugs are now imported into Russia from China and India. In the nine months of this year, the total volume    of deliveries amounted to almost 15,000 tons. According to the analytical company RNC Pharma, China accounts for 60% of such supplies while India about 15%.