RSPP and the «Roshimreaktiv» Association Discussed Ensuring Domestic Pharmaceutical Production with Low-Tonnage Chemical Products

On October 5, 2023, a joint offsite meeting of the RSPP Commission on Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, the RSPP Commission on Health Industry, Physical Culture and Sports, and the CCI of the RF Committee on Entrepreneurship in Healthcare and Medical Industry was held in Saransk (Republic of Mordovia).

The topic of the meeting was «Current Problems of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Achieving Technological Sovereignty in Providing Healthcare with Medicines through the Development of Domestic Production of Low-Tonnage Chemical Products.»

During the meeting, participants discussed current problems of the pharmaceutical industry, including achieving technological sovereignty in providing healthcare with medicines and developing domestic production of low-tonnage chemical products. Significant attention was also paid to specific steps for developing full-cycle drug production, pharmaceutical substances, and ensuring the country’s drug security.

The meeting was opened by Viktor Cherepov, Vice-President of the RSPP for Social Policy and Labor Relations, Chairman of the RSPP Commission on Health Industry, Physical Culture and Sports, President of the Club of Investors of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry; Yuri Kalinin, Chairman of the RSPP Commission on Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, President of the «Rosmedprom» Association; and Valery Sergienko, Chairman of the CCI of the RF Committee on Entrepreneurship in Healthcare and Medical Industry.

In his address to the meeting participants, Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, emphasized that this was already the fourth event this year aimed at finding ways to achieve technological sovereignty in providing the healthcare system with medicines. In conclusion, Alexander Shokhin expressed confidence that the proposals and recommendations developed at the meeting would form the basis of measures for implementing the Strategy for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry until 2030.

Welcome speeches were delivered by Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, and Sergey Katyrin, President of the CCI of the RF. «Enterprises in the industry are actively using state support measures. In 2023 alone, the pharmaceutical industry received investments of 5.7 billion rubles from the federal budget. This year, the total amount of support should increase to 6.9 billion rubles,» said Sergey Katyrin.

He separately noted the participation of the CCI system in the work on providing loans from the Industrial Development Fund, within which an expert assessment of projects was carried out. Thus, the relevant CCI of the RF Committee on Entrepreneurship in Healthcare and Medical Industry has supported 276 projects in the «Medbiofarm» direction since 2015, including 28 projects in 2022 and 12 projects in the past period of 2023.

The market for pharmaceutical substances is very significant, as in 2022, 20.8 thousand tons of active pharmaceutical ingredients worth 191.6 billion rubles were imported into Russia. It is impossible to immediately substitute such a volume with domestic production, and for some substances, it is not necessary. It is important to define strategic directions and achieve the set goals step by step.

Sergey Katyrin recommended working out mechanisms for guaranteed demand for low-tonnage chemical products to ensure constant utilization of the chemical complex’s capacities and product profitability. Otherwise, domestic medicines will be more expensive than foreign analogues, including those from India and China. Given the small required volumes for individual chemical substances, it is worth working on the issue of a state compensation mechanism for the costs of purchasing domestic substances.

Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, addressed the meeting participants. He noted that the pharmaceutical industry has been one of the main industries in the region for many years. Today, pharmaceutical enterprises preserve work traditions and are actively developing. In particular, a project to create a Biotechnology Development Center aimed at developing modern full-cycle biotechnological drugs is being prepared.

An assessment of the state of the pharmaceutical substance production industry and proposals for support measures were presented by Victor Dmitriev, General Director of the Association of Russian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and Petr Bely, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GC «PROMOMED».

Yuri Kalinin, Chairman of the RSPP Commission on Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, President of the «Rosmedprom» Association, raised issues of developing an action plan for implementing the strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry, developing the production of pharmaceutical substances, developing the production of low-tonnage chemical products for drug manufacturing, and proposed to consider them at the upcoming XV Congress of Workers of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry in December 2023.

The co-chairs of the Working Group on the Development of Pharmaceutical Substances and Low-Tonnage Chemical Production – Alexander Semenov, President of «Active Component» JSC, and Irina Vendilo, Vice-President of the Russian Union of Chemists, Director of the «Roshimreaktiv» Association – presented the results of the «Medicines» Working Group’s activities in organizing interaction between representatives of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Liliya Titova, Executive Director of the Union of Professional Pharmaceutical Substances, in her speech, made proposals for developing the industry’s personnel potential.

The participants’ speeches were commented on by Elena Astapenko, Director of the Department for Regulation of Medicines and Medical Devices Circulation of the Russian Ministry of Health, and Dmitry Galkin, Director of the Department for Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The offsite meeting was also attended by Valery Sergienko, Chairman of the CCI of the RF Committee on Entrepreneurship in Healthcare and Medical Industry; Rinat Raimov, Director of the CCI of the Republic of Mordovia; representatives of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Russian Ministry of Health, the RSPP, pharmaceutical companies, and experts.

The resolution of the meeting will be sent to the Government of the Russian Federation.