Russian sales boom for antivirals, immunomodulators and antibacterial agents

Total sales of 100 most popular drugs in Russia in 2020 amounted to 380 billion roubles ($5.13 billion), which is one of the record figures for the Russian pharmaceutical market in the last several years.

Of these, the biggest sales were observed in the case of drugs that are used to treat cold-related diseases and flu. The increase of sales of these drugs resulted in the growth of revenue of their producers, among the biggest of which are the Russian companies Pharmstandard, Valenta and Novartis (NOVN: VX) generics and biosimilars Sandoz unit. Sales of the latter in Russia last year amounted to 26 billion roubles (+27%), which was due to a significant growth of sales of its ACC expectorant.

In the meantime, the current market trends are confirmed by representatives of some leading Russian pharmacy chains, which said last year the highest sales growth was observed in the case of antiviral drugs, immunomodulators and antibacterial agents. This is despite the fact that the effectiveness of most of these drugs, including against COVID-19, has not yet been proven on the international level.