Russian government to stimulate conduct of clinical trials by foreign pharma producers

The Russian government plans to actively attract the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturers to the country, through the creation of conditions to carry out clinical trials of their drugs in the country and providing their access to Russian patients, according to local media reports.

Since the beginning of the current year, the number of drugs which was subject of clinical trials in Russia has almost doubled. According to data of Synergy Research Group, a Russian analytics agency in the field of pharmaceutical business, this year 448 clinical trials were approved in Russia, compared to 201 during the same period of last year.

The attraction of foreign pharma producers also takes place through the design of legislation, obliging foreign drugmakers to conduct clinical trials of their drugs in Russia in order to sell them on the Russian market. As part of these plans, a federal law “About circulation of drugs” was approved, which simplified the access of foreign pharma producers to Russian patients. As a result, the adoption of the law has resulted in an increase of foreign investments in clinical trials in the territory of Russia.