Ukraine does not yet have resources for creating its own innovative drugs, the development is demonstrated by generic production, Dmytro Shymkiv, the chairman of the board of directors of Darnitsa Group, has said.
“For the production of innovative drugs, we need appropriate research and development and patent protection of intellectual property not only in Ukraine, but also globally. And we also need the ability to raise from $ 1 billion and have at least 8-10 years of time. The availability of such resources in Ukraine is not yet discussed,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
At the same time, he noted that “the generic market is also showing development, new combination drugs are being created and the existing lines are actively expanding.”
In addition, Shymkiv believes that “the Ukrainian pharmaceutical sector will not be able to cover all the needs for medicines,” therefore, there can be no talk of 100% import substitution.
“Refusal to import can be considered in those segments where Ukrainian companies can and are already producing drugs,” he said.
Commenting on the possibility of reviving vaccine production in Ukraine, Shymkiv stressed that “vaccine production is, first of all, issues of public-private partnership.”
“We studied the possibility of launching vaccine production. Everything causes the question: who is the customer. If the state guarantees the purchase, then we will have a Ukrainian plant using the best technologies. And Darnitsa is ready to invest in this. Invest where there are no guarantees of public procurement is too risky,” he said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that today Ukraine is a very strong player in the field of innovation, and the Ukrainian IT sector shows an increase of about 20% annually. “We need to increase dynamic growth, and we need new investments for this goal. Of course, we need new technologies and not only technologies that we can borrow, but I think that many people will agree that today Ukraine is a very strong player in the field of innovation,” he said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Thursday. The premier added that in the innovation sector, the country is showing dynamic growth, in particular, a significant increase is shown by the IT sector – about 20% annually.
“We understand that new technologies are in conflict with the number of jobs,” Groysman added.
At the same time, he stressed that in Ukraine there are sectors where new jobs are created, and official unemployment in the country is falling.
The premier also predicted a shortage of labor in the future.
Groysman noted that there are areas in Ukraine that have the 10-12-fold potential for growth, which allows it to be quite competitive in investment.
