Health Pills
Russian pharmaceutical companies perform one and a half times worse than foreign manufacturers. This conclusion can be made based on the results of Roszdravnadzor's monitoring of the quality of medicines that entered the domestic market in 2008. 60.8% of substandard drugs seized from pharmacies and warehouses are accounted for by Russian manufacturers, 39.2% – by foreign manufacturers. (It should be noted that the share of domestic manufacturers accounts for only a quarter of the Russian pharmaceutical market. Then the difference will become even more noticeable – VM.)
Among the domestic manufacturers who were blacklisted by the department, the most complaints were against Iodine Technologies and Marketing LLC (45 series of four drugs were rejected), Tula Pharmaceutical Factory (26 series of seven drugs), Vifitech CJSC (22 series of eight drugs). The black list of Roszdravnadzor also included Slavyanskaya Pharmacy LLC, the association of Biosynthesis OJSC, Tatkhimpharmpreparaty OJSC, Rostov Pharmaceutical Factory CJSC, Dalkhimpharm OJSC, Biochemist OJSC, Flora of the Caucasus OJSC.
Among the importers, the list is headed by Indian pharmaceutical companies: Roszdravnadzor has the most complaints about the quality of products of Plethiko Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Shreya Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd, Himalaya Drag Co. The list also includes the English company Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare International Ltd (Boots Healthcare International), the Ukrainian JSC Farmak, the Belgian USB S.A. Pharma Sector, the Dutch Natur Product Europe B.V., the Pakistani Herbion Pakistan Privet Limited, the Belarusian RUE Belmedpreparaty and the American Sagmel Inc. The press secretary of Roszdravnadzor Maxim Lakomkin explained to the Newspaper that the negative rating of pharmaceutical manufacturers compiled by the agency is rather a public measure. "Counterfeit medicines are much more dangerous for consumers than low–quality ones, although the border between them is blurred," he noted.
Such ratings are compiled quarterly, and the saddest thing, according to Lakomkin, is that during the year the participants of the blacklist have not changed.
In total, 406 trade names of 1074 medicinal series were confiscated last year. Nikolay Yurgel's department paid special attention to the quality of the substances from which medicines are made, and the fight against the supply of counterfeit products. The result of this work was the withdrawal from circulation of 187 series of six names of pharmaceutical substances of unknown origin and 30 trade names of 1190 series of finished medicines, in the production of which unidentified pharmaceutical substances were also used.
Lakomkin added that this year work has begun in all federal districts on the organization of laboratories that will be able to carry out adequate control of a wide range of medicines.
Irina Vlasova, GZT.RU
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru04.02.2009