The state sets the task of providing citizens with vital Russian-made drugs

Peter Bely, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Alexander Yefremov, CEO of PROMOMED PJSC, participated in the Kommersant Publishing House round table "Balancing the interests of the patient and industry in public procurement of medicines", during which they talked about the results of creating a full-cycle production and the importance of localization of production for the development of innovations in the pharmaceutical industry.

In his speech, Peter Bely stressed that the process of import substitution in the Russian pharmaceutical industry has increased the efficiency of providing patients with medicines: thanks to the localization of production, the cost of drugs has decreased, and now the state can provide more patients with effective drugs from the list of vital and essential medicines (VED). In particular, this is confirmed by the results of public procurement: the state was able to optimize its costs for providing the population with drugs from the list of VED due to the fact that it can now purchase them from Russian companies.

As an example of the successful development of his own Russian pharmaceutical developments and drug production, Peter Bely cited the Biochemist plant owned by PROMOMED. This is a full—cycle production facility, from the molecule to the finished dosage form. The plant is capable of producing the widest possible range of medicines in such areas as infection control (antiviral and antibiotics), endocrinology, neurology, oncology, and general therapy. Today, Biochemist is one of the largest pharmaceutical enterprises in the country, the basis of national drug safety.

"It was thanks to the localization of full-cycle production in Russia that we were able to provide vital therapy to our diabetic patients as soon as possible, when Western manufacturers simply recalled their drugs from Russia. During the COVID-19 epidemic, we had full-cycle drugs that saved millions of lives. We did not depend on whether foreign antiviral drugs would be given to us or not," said Petr Bely.

"We have really turned the Company towards innovative development. This step, which is logical for PROMOMED, was the result of the convergence of the goals and objectives of the State, doctors, the interests of patients and business," emphasized Alexander Yefremov, CEO of PJSC PROMOMED. "And here, in addition to new molecules, developments and technologies, there are two more important components. The first is a vector of long–term development, defined by a list of VED, transparent and with clear rules of formation. The second component is our own API production, which provides the necessary flexibility in the development of innovations and is a material prerequisite for the true localization of medicines and the basis for the country's drug independence," continued Alexander Yefremov.

It is these two components that are currently under pressure from foreign Pharma, which is seeking to narrow localization tasks to a newly created list of "Strategically Important medicines" and delay deep localization in order not to lose competitive advantages in budget purchases. Given the widespread public attention to the issues of providing the population with VED, it is necessary to continue discussing these important aspects in order to achieve sustainable development in the pharmaceutical sector and more transparent interaction between all stakeholders.