The state-owned enterprise Medical Procurement of Ukraine negotiated the purchase of a vaccine against COVID-19 with India’s Serum Institute, MP from the Holos faction Oleksandra Ustinova has said with reference to SOE Medical Procurement of Ukraine. According to the response of the SOE to her request, the Ministry of Health has suspended negotiations with the manufacturer.
“Negotiations with manufacturers or potential suppliers of vaccines have been suspended due to the failure to authorize SOE Medical Procurement of Ukraine to act as the recipient of budgetary funds, the lack of appropriations in 2021 for the purchase of vaccines for SOE Medical Procurement of Ukraine and the lack of an approved additional amount of vaccine for the purchase,” MP said.
Ustinova said that the vaccine from Serum Institute was procured for the COVAX global initiative.
In addition, according to her, the cost of a dose of the vaccine from the manufacturer Sinovac, the supply agreement for which was signed by Ukraine, is six times higher than the cost of the Indian vaccine.
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. specializes in the production of immunobiological preparations, among which, in particular, vaccines against poliomyelitis, measles, hepatitis B, BCG vaccine against tuberculosis, as well as DPT vaccine against whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus.
Earlier, preparations for immunoprophylaxis produced by Serum II were supplied to Ukraine, in particular, the DPT vaccine, and Hib vaccine to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b. In 2018, the State Service of Ukraine for Medicines and Drug Control imposed a temporary ban on the DTP Serum II series vaccines due to reports of a fatal case following the use of these series. However, later the ban was lifted on the basis of a conclusion of the regional rapid response group (in Ternopil region) regarding the absence of a causal relationship between the death and immunization.
Indian pharmaceutical companies are ready to provide Ukrainians with antiviral drugs, the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (IPMA) has said.
“The leading Indian pharmaceutical companies represented by IPMA in Ukraine are ready to assist Ukraine in providing it with high-quality and effective medicines, including antiviral drugs, which have recently been used in the fight against the coronavirus disease COVID-19 in the world,” the association said.
IPMA also reported that Indian doctors have noted some success in treating COVID-19 with drugs such as LPV/r, Oseltamivir, Ribavirin and Chloroquine.
“At the same time, it is probably still necessary to observe patients in order to reach a final conclusion,” the IPMA said.
At the same time, the association said that Indian family companies, which are one of the world leaders in the production of drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, will be ready for a possible increase in supplies to Ukraine if the country makes such a decision.
“So far, such negotiations are not conducted, but we are ready for them,” the IPMA said.
At the same time, the association said that Indian pharmaceutical companies have sufficient capacity to meet increasing demand.
“Like any state, in connection with the current situation in the world – the COVID-19 pandemic, India should protect its citizens first of all. But for now, our manufacturers have enough capacities to provide other countries [with drugs] as well,” the IPMA said.
The association said that currently, due to the lack of air traffic, there are some difficulties with the delivery of goods from India, including drugs, while there are no delays in customs and interruptions in logistics.
The range of orders that come from pharmacies and medical institutions as a whole has not changed, but, in addition to ordinary orders, there is a demand for masks and disinfectants.
The affordable price becomes the important criterion for choosing effective medicines, Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Partha Satpathy has said.
“Today, the low price offered for an effective and high-quality drug is becoming a very important criterion for choosing medicines. Leading Indian pharmaceutical companies introduce medicines manufactured at modern production sites, taking into account the laws of countries with Stringent Regulatory Authorities, the requirements of EU regulatory agencies and the FDA, to the Ukrainian market,” he said during the third annual business seminar entitled “India – a Global Force in Pharmaceuticals, a Reliable Partner for Ukraine” organized by the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (IPMA) in cooperation with the Embassy of India in Ukraine last week in Kyiv.
The ambassador said that the government of India has determined the production of effective and affordable medicines, which the country can provide not only with the needs of the domestic market, but also with export, as one of the directions of state policy.
“The Indian pharmaceutical industry is so successful that it is capable to satisfy the needs of not only the domestic market of India, but the whole world. These needs are met on the basis of two principles: the availability of medicines and their reasonable price. Indeed, the health of many people depends on the availability of efficiency and the price of medicines,” he said.
Satpathy recalled that “the Indian government has taken certain steps: it has identified priority medicines, encouraged the manufacturing companies of these medicines and determined the basis for the implementation of the state regulatory policy to ensure the quality and effectiveness of medicines.”
The ambassador also said that Indian medicines can play a significant role in the implementation of the government’s Affordable Medicines program in Ukraine.
“It is high-quality medicines at a reasonable price that play an important role in this program. Therefore, the Indian side can be useful in this direction,” he said.
In addition, Satpathy noted the potential of Indian pharmaceutical companies in the segment of vaccines, oncology and drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases for the entire world, as well as in the production of innovative medicines.
According to Proxima Research, in January-October 2019, 41.3 million packages of Indian medicines were sold on the retail market of Ukraine for a total of UAH 4.369 billion, which is 6.3% in cash and 4.6% in kind of the entire retail pharmaceutical market of Ukraine.
In turn, IPMA President Dr. Menon Ramanan Unni Parambath emphasized the willingness of leading Indian manufacturers to provide Ukrainian patients with a wide range of effective and high-quality medications at affordable prices.
For his part, Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Dmytro Koval said that the quality of registered Indian drugs is in line with international standards, and leading health experts acknowledge this.
According to the data announced during the seminar, the top 10 in terms of sales in the Ukrainian retail market among Indian companies in January-October 2019included, in particular, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (UAH 632.078 million or 5.392 million packages), Organosyn Life Sciences (UAH 460.279 million), Abryl Formulations (UAH 268.204 million), Sun Pharma (UAH 216.326 million), Euro Lifecare (UAH 188.365 million) and Macleods Pharmaceuticals (UAH 157.947 million). They are members of IPMA.
The Indian pharmaceutical market in Ukraine could grow by 2% in 2019, President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association (IPMA) Dr. Menon has said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. “Indian pharmaceutical products consistently rank third among importing countries in Ukraine. We are optimistic about 2019 and we expect the market of Indian pharmaceutical products to grow in Ukraine,” he said.
Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Partha Satpathy, in turn, notes that India can meet the needs of Ukraine in inexpensive and high-quality medicines.
“Indian pharmaceutical products account for only 5% of the total pharmaceutical consumption in Ukraine. This is a large amount – more than $150 million, but in today’s conditions Ukraine needs effective medicines that will not be very expensive. This is where Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers will help, whose medicines cost one-sixth, one-tenth of the western analogues. All medicines are certified by the WHO,” he said.
The ambassador also noted that India ranks first in terms of the number of GMP certified products, therefore the Indian pharmaceutical market in Ukraine should grow.
Biopharma, a blood products maker, plans to boost suppliers of its products to the traditional markets for the company and actively develop new ones – India, African countries, Biopharma Group President Kostiantyn Yefymenko has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. The group plans to boost sales in Ukraine and supplies to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia.
“At the same time, the most promising for us is the Indian market, and after it – Africa, where we will intensively increase our presence,” Yefymenko said.
Commenting on plans for expansion of activities in foreign pharmaceutical markets, he said that currently Biopharma “does not strongly focus on the EU countries” because of the conservatism of this market, although it delivers its drugs, in particular probiotics, to some European countries – Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Biopharma is one of the ten largest Ukrainian producers of medicines. It produces more than 20 immunobiological preparations from donor blood, preparations obtained by recombinant DNA technology and probiotics.
