Drugmakers unable to meet growing demand for medicines in Russia

12 January 2021

Russia continues to experience a shortage of at least 42 drugs, which are used for the treatment of some serious diseases including COVID-19, according to recent statements, by analysts of the All-Russian Union of Patients (VSP) and some local media, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Russia is steadily growing, many local patients are beginning to more actively use drugs that are originally designed for the treatment of other diseases in their anti-COVID therapies. This has led to the shortage of these drugs in local pharmacies.

Polina Pchelnikova, a member of the presidium of the Russian Rheumatology Association, said in an interview with the Russian Izvestia business paper, the situation is complicated by the fact that the number of relatively inexpensive drugs have ceased to be produced in Russia or their delivery to the country was suspended due to low profitability and the introduction of labelling.

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