Public procurement of drugs sets new record in Russia this year

The total value of public procurement of drugs in Russia in the first half of 2021 exceeded 400 billion roubles ($5.4 billion), which is almost 30% higher than a year earlier, according to a study conducted by one of Russia’s leading analyst agencies in the field of pharmaceutics DSM Group, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

Most of the drugs were purchased for the needs of public hospitals and clinics for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, while among the largest players in the segment were two local drugmakers - R-Pharm and Pharmstandard.  The list of other largest players also includes the Russian subsidiary of the UK GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), which received contracts for 19.2 billion roubles, as well as local producers and distributors - Irvin and Pharmimex.

According to analysts of DSM Group, at present state procurement accounts for 42.1% of the total turnover of the Russian pharmaceutical market, which is the highest figure since 2005. Of these, the hospital segment of procurement showed the best dynamics for the reporting period with the overall value of purchases of 240.6 billion roubles, which is 47% more than year-on-year. This segment is growing for the second year in a row: in January-June 2020, its value exceeded 164 billion roubles, which is 41% more than in the same period of 2019.