Negative impact of clinical trials suspension hitting Russian pharma and global drugmakers

The refusal of large pharmaceutical manufacturers to conduct their clinical trials in Russia threatens local specialized centers with the loss of almost half of potential contracts, according to recent statements by some local analysts in the field of pharmaceutics and Russian media reports, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

In recent weeks many of global drugmaker, operating in the Russian market, among which are Takeda (TYO: 34502), AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Sanofi (Euronext: SAN), AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Novartis (NOVN: VX), have announced the suspension of further clinical trials of their drugs in the local market. This, however, will not affect projects that were launched before February 24, when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, implementation of which will continue, while patients already selected for trials will receive treatment.

Still, according to data from the Russian Association of Clinical Research Organizations (AOKI), the decision of "big pharma" to suspend clinical trials in Russia may lead to the loss of almost half of the potential orders of Russian contract research organizations.