Global drugmakers slam restrictions on state tendering in Russia

Leading global pharmaceutical producers operating in the Russian market have criticized a recent decision of the Russian government, which finally approved the provision of state preferences for domestic drugmakers in tenders for the purchase of drugs for state needs.

Vladimir Shipkov, executive director of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Russia (AIPM), comments: "The initiators of these amendments were mainly driven by business interests of some domestic players in the Russian pharmaceutical market, which has nothing to do with the interests of patients. Although members of the AIPM had invested more than $2 billion in the pharmaceutical industry of Russia, its representatives were not even involved in the discussion of the new amendments.”

According to Mr Shipkov, the association has repeatedly proposed implementing other models for state tenders in Russia, such as the introduction of a differentiated system of preferences for drugs produced in Russia, depending on their degree of localization, however the government did not respond to their queries. At the same time the introduced restrictions will not affect state tenders for the purchase of expensive drugs.