Russia prepares for shortage of anti-cancer drugs

The Russian Ministry of Health has prepared a list of 39 anticancer drugs that are likely to be in short supply in the country due to ongoing military conflict between Ukraine and Russia and Western sanctions imposed on Russia, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

Most of drugs included in the list are used to treat the most common types of cancer: melanoma, breast cancer, bronchial, lung and prostate cancer and are original drugs, which are imported from abroad. According to official state data, spending on these drugs in 2021 accounted for 62% of all public procurements on anticancer drugs in Russia last year, which is equivalent to 140 billion roubles ($1.77 billion) and 226 billion roubles respectively.

These plans have already sparked criticism from some local experts, according to whom the replacement of these original drugs by Russian analogues may throw the domestic medicine back for 20 years, as a significant part of such generics will be of significantly lower quality, compared to their foreign analogues and will be less effective for patients.