Yesterday, the Cabinet of Ministers included the pharmaceutical industry in the list of priority sectors of the economy, thereby strengthening state support in this area. Since the beginning of the war, the main pharmaceutical companies in Ukraine have generally maintained their production capacities, while several enterprises suffered as a result of Russian strikes, in particular, in March, the warehouses of the Farmak pharmaceutical plant burned down in Makarov, Kyiv region. The damage then, according to the enterprise, amounted to about 1.5 billion hryvnia.
How important is state support for pharmaceutical manufacturers now, and will the industry be able to provide Ukrainians with medicines in full? Igor Stakovichenko, an expert in the field of economics, answered these and other questions for the Open4business portal.
In his opinion, now the production of medicines should be equated by the state with the provision of the army, since in a warring state medicine is one of the foundations of a stable situation at the front and in the rear.
“It is hard to imagine that the army will be able to fight effectively if it is not provided with high-level medical support. At the same time, the production of its own medications is strategically important for the state. Supplies from Western partners are good, but having your own working pharmaceutical industry in such a difficult time is much better And this is understood in the government,” Igor Stakovichenko believes.
According to the expert, pharmaceutical production in Ukraine today is able to provide both the army and the population with a significant part of the necessary medicines. Igor Stakovichenko believes that the government’s timely decisions taken since the beginning of the war made it possible to quickly adapt the industry to new conditions.
“In particular, back in the spring, amendments were adopted to the law “On Medicines”, limiting the export of certain vital drugs. In addition, they significantly simplified the registration of pharmaceuticals during the war, creating an emergency procedure. This was done literally on the third day. In general, the government’s decision on The inclusion of pharmaceutical production in the list of priority industries is a continuation of the policy of supporting the industry, which has been outlined since the beginning of the war. Such support should remain at the level of the main state priorities,” stressed Igor Stakovichenko.
ECONOMY, MARKETS, MEDICINE, PHARMA, STAKOVICHENKO, ИГОРЬ_СТАКОВИЧЕНКО
The world’s leading event organizer, Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club, invites you to participate in the International Conference “Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Market” https://pharmaukraine.events/?partner=9, which will be held on May 24-25, 2022 in a hybrid format with an offline part in Kyiv.
You will find the most relevant programme for the industry developed via an in-depth market research of the target audience, a unique international approach and a mix of the most engaging formats, one-to-one meetings with regualtors and top managers from the leading pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains, the chance to win an award in the competition for the Ukrainian Pharma Inspiration Awards and new promotion opportunities!
Conference in numbers:
– 150+ participants from regulatory authorities, leading international and local pharmaceutical production and distribution companies, pharmacy chains and service providers to the pharmaceutical sector.
– 60+ speakers from regulatory authorities, leading pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains.
– 10+ sessions – the programme will include 10+ sessions on regulation, strategies, sales and marketing.
For detailed information and registration follow the link >> https://pharmaukraine.events/?partner=9
Three major reasons to attend the international conference “Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Market”
1. International approach
The speakers of the conference, organized by the Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club, will be not only representatives of the Ukrainian regulatory authorities, leading international and local pharmaceutical production and distribution companies, pharmacy chains, healthcare institutions and patient organisations but also international experts. The global experience gained by other countries will be especially useful given the numerous reforms carried out in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market.
2. Audience insights and content
Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club develops the programmes of its events in accordance with the needs of the target audience building industry understanding on the extensive market research.
3. Networking in a premium atmosphere
150+ representatives of regulatory authorities, pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains will participate in the conference. The delegate conference package, in addition to the opportunity to attend programme sessions, includes access to coffee breaks, lunches and a cocktail reception in a 5* hotel atmosphere which will ensure a pleasant experience for all participants.
Key topics for discussion
• New Law on Pharmaceutical Drugs – how will we work in the new reality?
• The regulatory framework of the pharmaceutical market in Ukraine – integration of international approaches and move towards the EU market
• Plans on restructuring of the state authorities involved in the regulation and control of the pharmaceutical market
• Electronic prescription as a driving force of changes in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
• Health Technology Assessment: pharmaceutical drugs assessment procedure, criteria for assessing innovative and generic medicines, challenges
• Plans to introduce of a Positive Pharmaceutical Drug List and combine various essentials medicines lists
• Public procurement of medicines at the national and local levels: changes in approaches, financing and opportunities for development
• Reimbursement system: terms of programme implementation, funding, covered patient groups
• Pharmaceutical drugs registration and quality control in Ukraine: changes in approaches, simplified registration procedures, fast track registration procedures, opportunities for introducing recognition of GMP inspection results from countries with strict regulatory requirements, pharmacovigilance development, plans for introducing e-submissions
• Approaches to pricing in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
• Ensuring access to innovative drugs for the patients in Ukraine: implementing pilot projects to introduce managed access contracts
• Parallel import legalisation: plans to introduce legislative changes and market threats
• Protection of intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical drugs in Ukraine
• Pharmaceutical drugs sales in Ukraine: how to work in the situation when a few distributors and pharmacy chains have control over the significant market share
• E-commerce development: should we expect significant market changes?
• Pharmaceutical drugs promotion in a new reality: databases development, face-to-face vs virtual medical representatives’ visits and their competencies development, digital tools, ecosystems development, content materials development, legal aspects of promoting drugs in the digital environment
• Omnichannel marketing: how to improve the effectiveness of utilizing digital tools
• Plans to introduce a ban on pharmaceutical drugs TV advertising: is their implementation realistics and how pharmaceutical companies can prepare for possible changes
• M&A in the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market
With this invitation via Interfax Ukraine you are entitled to a 10% discount.
Simply quote your VIP code: INF10 REGISTRATION ONLINE >> https://pharmaukraine.events/delegate-registration/?partner=9
Global Pharmaceutical Leaders’ Club also invites pharmaceutical production and distribution companies and pharmacy chains to participate in the contest for the Ukrainian Pharma Inspiration Awards. Applications are accepted in 15 nominations until April 20, 2022. The winners will be announced at the International Conference “Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Market”. Details are here: https://pharmaukraine.events/ukrainian-pharma-inspiration-awards/?partner=9
We look forward to seeing you in May, offline or online! If you have any questions or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have any enquiries or suggestions do not hesitate to contact Anna Kuzminskaya: +380 63 7673207, anna.k@iventu.co.uk
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Pharmaceutical manufacturers have overcome the logistics problems that arose at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), said President of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU) Petro Bahriy.
“Among the general problems that have arisen with the introduction of quarantine [at the beginning of the epidemic], I would single out the problems of logistics, difficulties with the import, transportation of pharmaceutical products and their registration in connection with closed borders, as well as problems with the so-called ‘anticovid’ goods, for which there is an increased demand today,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Bahriy noted that the price of some APIs of drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19 and complications of this disease has grown significantly in the global market – there are problems with production due to delays in deliveries.
“This is not a critical situation for the industry as a whole. We have to restructure, place orders earlier, realizing that delivery times will be longer than they were before the pandemic. For the entire time of the pandemic, consumers have not particularly felt a shortage of medicines,” he said.
Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers hope to simplify the procedure and conditions for state registration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), which will allow maintaining the volume of drug production in conditions of API shortage, said President of the Association of Manufacturers of Medications of Ukraine (AMMU) Petro Bahriy.
“At one of the meetings in the Ministry of Health, it was decided to simplify the procedure and conditions for state registration of APIs that are part of all medicines, due to the aggravation of the problems of supplying raw materials for the production of drugs to Ukraine due to the introduction of restrictions on export by main suppliers (China, India), in case of replacement of the API manufacturer for the registration of alternative API suppliers in order to avoid a shortage of necessary medicines,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The head of the AMMU also noted that domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers hope that the possibilities of using mechanisms of state guarantees, state orders and state reserves for the procurement of medicines will be considered.
At the same time, Bahriy believes that one of the real steps of the state, which would allow solving the problem of the deficit of imported APIs, could be an appeal by the Ukrainian embassies to the governments of the countries in which APIs are produced.
“We need to consider real steps. This can be help from our embassies, which can appeal to the governments of the states where APIs are produced, for example, China or India, so that they somehow pay attention to Ukraine, increase quotas. Although we understand that the effect of this is unlikely will take place, since the United States, the EU, and the whole world, which is in line, turn to these governments,” he said.
In July-September 2020, the pharmaceutical company Teva increased sales of the antibiotic with active substance Azithromycin in Ukraine, which accounts for about 11% of its total sales in the country in monetary terms, by 5% compared to the same period in 2019 of the year.
Teva-Ukraine pharmaceutical company told Interfax-Ukraine that since the beginning of the pandemic in Ukraine Teva has sold more than 600,000 packages of this antibiotic.
At the same time, according to the results of the third quarter of 2020, sales in general on the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market in the segment of oral antibiotics in monetary terms grew by 14% compared to the same period in 2019.
Teva-Ukraine said that the company produces both original and generic azithromycin, which is used to treat bacterial respiratory tract infections and other infectious diseases.
Azithromycin is included in the protocol for providing medical care for COVID-19 in Ukraine and in many countries around the world.
“Teva has been providing uninterrupted supplies of azithromycin to Ukraine since the beginning of the pandemic and we will continue doing this,” the company said.
The company said that demand for azithromycin has grown worldwide amid seasonal illnesses and the use of azithromycin for the treatment of co-infections with COVID-19.
“It is possible that certain dosages and forms of production from different manufacturers may be in short supply. In our case, we do not see risks, since Teva’s portfolio contains 17 trade names of azithromycin, most of them are interchangeable. In case of a possible shortage of one of the forms, we proactively warn our partners about this, talk about available alternative forms of production, increase the volume of their imports,” the company said.
At the same time, Teva urges people to remember the rules for using antibiotics and the possible consequences of irrational antibiotic therapy and self-treatment in general.
“Only a doctor can prescribe antibiotics,” the company said.
According to Proxima Research, Azithromycin Teva has been the leader in the oral antibiotics segment in Ukraine since 2019. Over the past month, its share of all medicines in Ukraine amounted to almost 1% in monetary terms.
Teva Ukraine LLC is one of the five largest pharmaceutical companies on the Ukrainian market. The company’s portfolio includes more than 200 generic and original medicines used in most key therapeutic areas.
Teva Ukraine is part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, an international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Israel, founded in 1901. Teva specializes in the development, production and marketing of generic and original medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
By the end of 2020, the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine will grow by 5-6% in national currency, while at the beginning of the year a growth of 14% was expected, Director of AstraZeneca Ukraine LLC Yevhen Gaidukov has said.
“If we had a forecast of about 14% growth in the national currency, now we believe that by the end of the year the market will grow by 5-6% in hryvnia, but growth will depend on the U.S. dollar exchange rate,” he said during the European Business Association (EBA) Global Outlook event held in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Gaidukov said that the key challenge faced by the pharmaceutical market in 2020 was the almost complete absence of patients in clinics since April-May and “absolutely panic demand in March.”
“We, as an industry, were not ready for this. Telemedicine and other means of remote communication between a doctor and a patient were undeveloped. This is the reason for the market decline,” he said.
Under the optimistic scenario, Gaidukov predicts the growth of the pharmaceutical market by 10-11% in 2021.
“For 2021, we believe that the market will grow by 10-11% under the optimistic scenario. With regard to our company, we want to grow and this year, we will grow several times faster than the market,” he said.
At the same time, Gaidukov said that the pace of the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market “will strongly depend on the reform of the healthcare system, which has slowed down this year, taking into account the prioritization of other things, in particular COVID-19.”
