The President is dissatisfied with the Russian pharmaceutical industry
The pharmaceutical industry of the Russian Federation under the yoke of criticismEditorial office of IA "Finmarket"
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev scolded the Russian pharmaceutical industry, noting its unwillingness to release modern effective medicines. In addition, the head of state demanded to increase the efficiency of spending budget money allocated for the healthcare sector, and also gave instructions to more actively apply antimonopoly measures to manufacturers of pharmaceutical products.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the city of Pokrov, Vladimir region, on Monday, where he held a meeting of the commission on modernization and technological development of the Russian economy. The topic of the meeting was the development of the pharmacological industry, medical equipment, as well as medical and information technologies. During the meeting, the following figures were announced: in 10 years, the volume of drug sales in Russia will be about 1.5 trillion rubles. This means that our country will reach the average European level of drug consumption. In this regard, the head of state stressed that this should entail an increase in the duration and improvement of the quality of life of Russians. In addition, Dmitry Medvedev demanded that antimonopoly measures be applied more actively to manufacturers of certain types of pharmaceutical products.
Criticism of the Russian pharmaceutical industry
Speaking at a meeting of the commission for the modernization of the Russian economy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev criticized the Russian pharmaceutical industry. According to him, it is currently not ready to produce highly effective modern medicines. "Our industry today mainly continues to produce outdated nomenclature of the same type and, as a rule, imported generics from substances purchased abroad," Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday at a meeting of the commission for the modernization of the Russian economy. As the Head of state stressed, there is practically no work on the creation of original drugs and technologies in Russia today, with rare exceptions.
As for the Russian pharmaceutical market as a whole, Dmitry Medvedev noted that, according to experts, in 10 years the volume of sales of medicines in our country will be about one and a half trillion rubles. "In fact, we must reach the average European level of consumption of medicines, which, of course, should eventually be converted into life expectancy and quality of life," the head of state noted.
In addition, Dmitry Medvedev stressed that sales of medical equipment should grow at a high rate at the same time. "The question is how we will develop these modern production facilities, where and by whom new jobs will be created," he said.
The antimonopoly authorities were told: fas!During a meeting of the commission for the modernization of the Russian economy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev demanded that antitrust measures be applied more actively to manufacturers of certain types of pharmaceutical products.
The Russian President also drew attention to the need for effective use of public funds. "Despite the efforts we have made, we have not brought a final order in this area. By increasing the efficiency of spending funds, we will increase both the market volume and the demand for our medical products," Dmitry Medvedev stressed.
Recall that at the beginning of the summer, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia strengthened control over retail prices for medicines in order to prevent abuse in the field of pricing. Antimonopoly authorities took this step, taking into account the extremely high social significance of such a factor as drug prices. Due to the fact that since the autumn of 2008 there has been a significant increase in them in the Russian Federation, the FAS has instructed all its territorial bodies to organize quarterly monitoring of prices for 100 medicines most in demand by the population among pharmacy establishments occupying a dominant position.
To date, the FAS continues to analyze the prices of medicines both included in the list of vital and essential medicines, and not included in it. For medicines included in the list, maximum retail allowances have been established in each subject of the Russian Federation, the excess of which entails a violation of the law "On Protection of Competition" (violation of the pricing procedure). Those medicines that are not included in the specified list are examined for monopolistically high prices, that is, the retail prices set for them are compared with average prices in comparable markets.
The territorial bodies of the Federal Antimonopoly Service also monitor the dynamics of changes in prices for medicines and correlate the increase in drug prices with the level of inflation and the change in the value of the dual currency basket. In all cases of monopolistically high prices being set by dominant pharmacies, their violation of the pricing procedure or their participation in price collusion, the FAS of Russia initiates cases of violations of antimonopoly legislation.
So, in mid-August, it became known that in several regions, the territorial bodies of the Federal Antimonopoly Service revealed cases of excess by individual pharmacy chains that occupy a dominant position in local markets, the amount of the actual surcharge over the limit. In this regard, the territorial bodies of the FAS of Russia initiated cases on the grounds of violation of the law "On Protection of Competition" in 22 regions of Russia at once.
The need to remove obstacles to the development of pharmaceuticalsThe President of the Russian Federation has set a task to eliminate obstacles hindering the development of the pharmaceutical industry, including through the formation of technological breakthrough centers.
"We do not have a holistic strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry today, and the proposed projects, even with all their importance, are not strategic. The main task of the commission for the modernization of the Russian economy is to reach the formation of state policy in this area through system–forming projects, to eliminate systemic obstacles, which are quite sufficient," Dmitry Medvedev stressed, speaking at a meeting of the commission for the modernization of the Russian economy.
According to Dmitry Medvedev, it is necessary to prepare a project selection procedure, selection criteria, create a project registry, defining priorities in this area, and, finally, effectively use the export potential and financial capabilities of various structures, including such as Rusnano and Venture Corporation, and other market institutions.
"We have not made much progress in creating national centers for technological breakthrough priorities. There is not much to talk about yet," Dmitry Medvedev stressed. According to him, centers for the development of innovative medical equipment and medicines should appear in the Russian Federation.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru01.09.2009