Russia’s Pharma Industry Impresses as Economy Continues to Grow

29-06-2012: The Russian pharmaceutical industry will continue to expand due to government initiatives and increased healthcare spending, predicts a new report by healthcare business specialists GlobalData.

The report, "Healthcare, Regulatory and Reimbursement Landscape - Russia", states that Russia’s efforts to boost its pharmaceutical sector have been rewarded with strong and steady growth and the increased implementation of domestically produced treatments.

The country’s pharmaceutical market soared from a 2005 valuation of $6.6 billion to almost three times that in 2010, when it was worth approximately $18.7 billion, climbing at a remarkable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23%.

Following comprehensive data analysis, GlobalData expects this growth to continue at a less staggering, yet still impressive, CAGR of 9.5% to reach $46.4 billion by the end of 2020.

This surge in value is attributed to the introduction of national programs such as Health in 2006, and PharmMed 2020, which made its debut in 2009. As part of the latter, Russia has significantly increased research and development (R&D) spending in the field of drugs innovation and created opportunities for the development of the healthcare industry. Putin’s government has laid out goals to increase the domestic share of the pharmaceutical market to 50% by 2020, and the share of domestic innovative drugs to 60% by the same year.

However, it is not all plain sailing for the Eastern European giant. A lack of clarity in Russia’s regulatory system and a language barrier means foreign Multinational Corporations (MNCs) often face problems when attempting to register drugs and medical devices.

On average, it takes 24 months to register a new drug in an application process that must be carried out in Russian. This often proves restrictive for MNCs who want to progress without seeking legal advice from local distributors or consultants.

Furthermore, according to a new law that came into effect in 2010, foreign manufacturers must also conduct clinical trials in Russia prior to registration, and the results of international trials will only be accepted if they were conducted with the participation of Russian patients.