Political developments impacting medicines for Russia

Russia's pharmaceutical market has been growing faster over recent years. The Pharma 2020 Strategy provides incentives for local producers to develop original and generic drugs for both domestic and foreign markets.

These trends, however, were affected by recent developments connected with the political situation and the following political and economic sanctions imposed on Russia, according to Smooth Drug Development, a contract research organization headquartered in St Petersburg, Russia.

Russia responded to the US and European Union sanctions by banning imports of certain products from a number of countries, which made experts concerned about potential effects on the health care industry, such as embargo on import of foreign medical supplies, at least for products that have generic alternatives made in Russia.