Technological sovereignty in providing Russian healthcare with medicines discussed in Saransk

On October 5, Saransk hosted a visiting meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs' Commission on the pharmaceutical and medical industries, on the health industry, physical culture and sports, and the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on entrepreneurship in healthcare and the medical industry. The meeting was attended by the heads of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, as well as major representatives of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

During the meeting, the participants discussed topical issues of the pharmaceutical industry, including the achievement of technological sovereignty in providing healthcare with medicines and the development of domestic production of low–tonnage chemicals. Much attention was also paid to specific steps to develop the production of full-cycle drugs, pharmaceutical substances and to ensure the country's drug safety.

The event was chaired by Yuri Kalinin, Chairman of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry Commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and President of the Rosmedprom Association. In particular, during the meeting, he noted: "This is the first time we are holding today's meeting on the site of Mordovia. This happened after the Head of Mordovia, Artyom Zdunov, addressed the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. We responded because Mordovia is famous for its historical traditions in the development of the pharmaceutical industry, as well as for its advanced technologies in the production of antibiotics (about 300 names of which are included in the list of vital medicines). The pharmaceutical industry of the republic is moving towards new frontiers with great strides; Mordovian University is training personnel for this industry."

Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), who participated in the VKS, noted in his greeting that the work of pharmaceutical enterprises in the face of sanctions had been coordinated, and the proposals and recommendations made at today's meeting would form the basis for measures to implement the strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry until 2030. "Our priority now is to ensure the drug independence and national security of the Russian Federation through the production of strategically significant, proprietary original drugs," Shokhin added.

Sergey Katyrin, President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in turn, thanked the leadership of Mordovia for the high level of organization of work, and also noted the merits of domestic manufacturers, thanks to which there was no shortage in the pharmaceutical market during the period of sanctions pressure. "Mordovia is famous for its pharmaceutical industry, its enterprises operate at the highest level," he added.

"Pharmaceuticals has always been and will always be one of the leading industries in our republic. A huge contribution to saving the lives and health of millions of people is made by the Biochemist company of the Promomed group of companies, which is one of the largest manufacturers of medicines in Russia. Biochemist specializes in the development and production of innovative drugs. In March of this year, with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a factory for the production of active pharmaceutical substances was opened on the basis of an enterprise in Saransk.

Today, the company's portfolio includes more than 300 names of medicines (80% of them are on the list of essential medicines," said Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. He also said that the Government of the republic, together with Promomed Group of Companies and the University of Mordovia, has developed a project to create the Mordovian Federal Center for the Development of Biotechnologies, a unique platform for carrying out work that was previously carried out abroad. This center will ensure a full cycle of production of new biotechnological drugs in the Russian Federation and guarantee Russia's drug safety, development of its technological and export potential.

"As the largest pharmaceutical company in the region, our Biochemist plant is technologically fully prepared to support and develop the innovative potential of such areas as domestic healthcare and ensure the drug safety of our country. We are convinced that along with the task of import substitution, we have more important and larger goals, for example, to stimulate the development and production of original domestic drugs of the highest quality. We must also focus on maximizing the export potential of the Russian pharmaceutical industry, which has all the prerequisites to become a reliable source of income at the national level in the very near future," said Peter Bely, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Promomed Group.

Dmitry Galkin, Director of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Elena Astapenko, Director of the Department for Regulating the Circulation of Medicines and Medical Devices of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Galina Lotvanova, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Mordovia, Igor Gubaidullin, Minister of Industry, Science and New Technologies of the Republic of Mordovia, Oleg Markin, Minister of Health of the Republic of Mordovia, Valery Sergienko, Chairman of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on Entrepreneurship in Healthcare and the Medical Industry; Viktor Cherepov, Chairman of the Commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs for the Health, Physical Culture and Sports Industry; Dmitry Saversky, President of the All-Russian Public Organization League of Defenders of Patients' Rights; Rinat Raimov, Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Mordovia.

At the end of the meeting, the participants visited the Biochemist plant, the Promomed group's production site. They got acquainted with the company's production facilities and were able to evaluate not only the GLS production sites, but also the state-of-the-art AFS production facility, opened in March this year with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. All the guests of the plant highly appreciated the level of technological equipment of the plant and the contribution of Promomed Group of Companies to ensuring the country's drug safety.