Russian Drugmakers "Need State Support"

Russian drug production has been maintained at a relatively stable levelin the last two years, even though imports are tending to squeeze out domestic products, says an industry report in Rabochaya Tribuna. Yuri Grigoryev, head of the Ministry of Industry's medical and biotechnical industry section, claims that the quality of domestic preparations is in line with world standards, despite averaging half the price of imported drugs.

Meantime, Russian drugmakers encounter serious marketing problems which are partly attributable to the large number of "price-inflating intermediaries" (Marketletter March 10). Domestic producers of medical technology have been facing similar problems, says Mr Grigoryev.

The report says state support is essential for the drugs and medical equipment sectors. At a time when health care budget allocations are "obviously inadequate" to meet current demand, it would make sense, it says, to reintroduce a state-regulated procurement regime to be handled by federal and regional bodies. Imports of drugs similar to home-manufactured products should have higher customs duties applied to them with import quotas.