Alexander Semenov spoke at the Biotechmed forum in Sochi
On October 9-10, the Biotechmed-2023 forum was held in Sochi - one of the key events in the pharmaceutical and medical industries. At the event, leading pharmaceutical manufacturers and government officials discussed cooperation and the necessary support measures to provide the healthcare system with high-quality and affordable medicines. The president of the Acticomp, Alexander Semenov, also took part in the forum sessions.
On the first day of the forum, the session “Together we are stronger. Pharma cooperation in the interests of EAEU patients” took place. It was attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Ekaterina Priezzheva, Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Sergey Glagolev, Chairman of the Board of the AFPEAEC Alexey Kedrin, top officials of leading Russian pharmaceutical companies, incl. Alexander Semenov.
An important reason for discussion was the Pharma-2030 strategy approved in June 2023, according to which the share of Russian drugs will increase to 70%. In his speech, Alexander Semenov noted that “one of the main goals of Pharma-2030 is to achieve import independence in the production of not only pharmaceutical substances, but also intermediates and reagents.” Unfortunately, in the 90s, Russia lost the competence to produce them, and therefore became dependent on imports, primarily from India and China. The work of the working group on import substitution, created under the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), is called upon to change the situation, which includes about 35 participants, incl. five institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. According to Alexander Semenov, this is a unique experience in cooperation between the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. A working group at the RUIE is discussing specific cases and exploring the possibilities of producing substances through the full cycle, starting with intermediates, which is important for the development of the pharmaceutical market as a whole.
Most of the measures necessary to achieve technological sovereignty of the EAEU pharmaceutical industry will be outlined in road maps within the framework of the Pharma-2030 strategy. However, they may become insufficient. “In achieving import independence, incentives from the state play a big role, such as tax preferences, preferential loan programs and certain subsidies to companies that build new production facilities and produce in-demand APIs. Of course, it is also extremely important to review the list of SZLS,” Alexander Semenov emphasized in his speech.
At the same time, a number of factors may negatively affect the development of the Russian pharmaceutical industry. According to Alexander Semenov, they are the possible introduction of export duties, as well as excise taxes on the API “Ethyl Alcohol”, the absence of restrictions on the registration by foreign manufacturers of generics not localized in the Russian Federation.
On the second day of the Biotechmed forum, a session was held on the system of traceability of the origin of pharmaceutical substances as an important element in achieving import independence of the pharmaceutical industry. The session partner was the Acticomp company.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation announced the launch of an experiment to create a traceability system for medicines on October 15. It is expected that it will confirm the actual implementation of all stages of the technological process for the production of medicines, including the synthesis of pharmaceutical substances, in the territories of the EAEU member states and thus help confirm the possibility of obtaining preferences under the “second wheel” mechanism within the framework of public procurement.
The Biotechmed Forum was held with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, as well as the administration of the Krasnodar Territory.