Innovative diabetes drugs can save the Russian Federation up to 20 billion rubles a year

Treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes using modern drugs – semaglutide and tirzepatide – will help reduce the number of complications, the frequency of hospitalizations and the level of disability of the population, which means it will reduce budget expenditures of the Russian Federation by up to 20 billion rubles per year, President of the Association of Quality Assessment Organizations Sergey Zelenets told Vedomosti.

"The economic effect of using new-generation drugs consists of several factors. Improved glycemic control and weight loss can reduce the risk of complications, including cardiovascular diseases, nephropathy and retinopathy. This leads to a decrease in the number of hospitalizations and cases of disability, as well as increases the ability to work," the report says.

Commercial sales of semaglutide-based drugs in Russia reached 8.8 billion rubles in 2024, and government purchases amounted to an additional 1.7 billion rubles, the association reported. Compared to 2023 (3.1 billion rubles), the market for similar drugs has tripled in a year.

Tirzepatide provides a 15.3% reduction in body weight during a year of use, which is almost twice as effective as semaglutide (8.3%). "In January 2025, users searched for semaglutide drugs 415,800 times, which is 30% more than a year earlier. This indicates a consistently high and growing interest in this group of drugs," said Antonina Levashenko, head of the laboratory for the analysis of best international practices at the Gaidar Institute, citing data from Yandex.

The state annually allocates about 9 billion rubles for the federal project "Combating diabetes". At the same time, according to the head of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Workers, Vita Weber, effective and comprehensive work in this area requires from 150 billion rubles per year.
On February 13, Vedomosti reported that Promomed increased sales of medicines by 28% compared to January 2024. The launch of a new drug, Velgia, which contains semaglutide, made a significant contribution to growth.

1. Vedomosti