The pharmaceutical industry defeated the pandemic, had to restructure its operation

“Generally speaking, we beat the pandemic. Us, the representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, each in their place, in their role – we have beaten the pandemic. The crisis is not over, people are still getting sick, but this is a manageable crisis anyway,” Vadim Kukava, Executive Director, The Association of Pharmaceutical Companies “Innovative Pharma”.

“The system of pharmacological oversight is now working even more actively, especially for those drugs that have been released on the condition that all adverse reactions would be unfailingly recorded. And what does that mean? That means monitoring the quality of medicines,” Alla Samoylova, Head, Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor).

“People say that Covid made us rethink our views on the supply chain. What used to work without interruptions and was reliable, it stopped working at times, and there were major failures. We have learned to cope with that somehow, there are certain measures and steps that are planned. In particular, there is a big discussion about how to develop the production of substances within the Pharma 2030 programme, among other things,” Vasily Ignatiev, General Director, R-Pharm.

The pharmaceutical industry is primarily focused on patients

“Ultimately, it is always about the patient. We work in a sector that is extremely socially oriented; there is no other industry that would ultimately be so patient-oriented. Because of the tremendous amount of gross regulation, we forget what we are in it for. And the ultimate goal should be ensuring that patients get those medicines when and where they need them,” Vadim Kukava, Executive Director, The Association of Pharmaceutical Companies “Innovative Pharma”.

“The term ‘patient-centricity’ is often used. What does it actually mean? It is a pretty simple concept. It is the relation of treatment results, which matters to a person, and the money that the government or that person spends. The interests of all parties involved must converge around these seemingly straightforward metrics,” Ekaterina Timofeeva, Partner, Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group.

PROBLEMS

Pharmaceutical industry regulation needs improvement

“If you take a look at the legislation <…> there are a lot of changes in terms of medicines and supplies. I am sure that this is the right thing, but what do we do to make the legislation more harmonious? This is a serious challenge today, even for me, although, after doing this professionally for 10 years, I certainly have a better understanding of it,” Aleksandr Petrov, Head of the Subcommittee on Circulation of Medicines, Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Health Protection.

“A political decision to create a broader market was made in the sphere of circulation of pharmaceuticals. That is a very difficult task, because it suggests that each country’s legislation must be changed in a certain way. We should have the most rational legislation, which would take into account the best practices, the best approach, the best solutions out there,” Viktor Nazarenko, Member of the Board (Minister) for Technical Regulation, Eurasian Economic Commission.

Regions cannot cope with creating their own structure of the pharmaceutical industry

“Each region creates its own system. And, honestly, a huge number of regions are failing,” Aleksandr Petrov, Head of the Subcommittee on Circulation of Medicines, Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Health Protection.

“We are deeply convinced that this should be strictly centralized. You know, they will tell me right away that there is regional specificity. I agree with that, but we would like to see regional specificity in terms of improving the availability of quality medicinal supply, and not the other way around, as it is happening now. There are regions <…> that are quite advanced in terms of the models for drug provision, and then there are regions where the law can only be implemented with a court ruling,” Yuriy Zhulev, President, Russian Hemophilia Society.

SOLUTIONS

A programme of regulating and reforming supply of pharmaceuticals in Russia is needed

“We need to coordinate actions and have regulatory programmes for special circumstances, when the pharmaceutical companies, whether they are publicly or privately owned, must get a registration package from the government to produce certain drugs in order to have those available in Russia,” Aleksandr Petrov, Head of the Subcommittee on Circulation of Medicines, Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry, Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Health Protection.

“The system of supply of pharmaceuticals in Russia is actually ripe for reform. We have been talking about this for ten years, people who have been in the industry longer than me have been talking about it for twenty years. <…> Drug provision, universal reimbursement, insurance – there are different models that are being discussed, but it is time to introduce them either way. In this sense, we rely on the newly elected State Duma. We hope that it will take this under close supervision,” Vadim Kukava, Executive Director, The Association of Pharmaceutical Companies “Innovative Pharma”.

Increased availability of drugs for patients through remote sales development

“All of this is done to ensure that our patients receive high-quality medications, – affordably and quickly. <…> Remote sales are a breakthrough, so that the people, especially those who stay at home, could have those pharmaceuticals quickly and, hopefully, of sufficient quality,” Alla Samoylova, Head, Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor).

“During the pandemic, we conducted a survey on the delivery of subsidized medicines to patients. You know, even for a particular disease, when we analyzed the respondents’ answers, we could not understand what was happening. There were totally contradicting answers in terms of accessibility and delivery, not only between the regions, but even within the regions,” Yuriy Zhulev, President, Russian Hemophilia Society.

Source: https://forumspb.com