Ukrainian pharmaceutical manufacturers must undergo prequalification of the WHO (World Health Organization) to participate in international tenders, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director in Ukraine Janthomas Hiemstra has said.
“Ukrainian companies will have to compete at the international level. Now Ukrainian companies will have to upgrade their standards to international standards, which means they can compete not only at our standards, they can compete internationally. They can start exporting. That’s, actually, very good news for Ukrainian companies – to live up to international standards and start producing for the rest of the world as well,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Hiemstra noted that in tenders held by international organizations, in particular, UNDP, “Ukrainian producers have to compete at the international level as well.”
Some foreign medicines are cheaper than Ukrainian ones, but in this case international confirmation of quality is very important. In the world, the standards of the World Health Organization (the so-called prequalification) have been developed, but Ukrainian producers have not been able yet to adopt these standards, he said.
“For the last 20-30 years Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies were mostly producing for Ukraine. So they didn’t have to live up to international standards,” he added.
