Russia should minimize its dependence on imports of ready-made medicines and pharmaceutical substances, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said on Thursday. /TASS/

“In 2020, we updated the list of drugs strategically important for the country, the production of which should be in a full cycle [created within Russia — TASS]<…> The pace [of production] is important here. Of course, the production of cardiovascular and oncological drugs means long cycles of preclinical and clinical trials, but our work with vaccines has shown that we know how we can, and so we must. We must minimize our country’s dependence on imports <…> both on foreign pharmaceutical substances and on ready-made medicines,” she said at the final board of the Industry and Trade Ministry.

Golikova recalled that in 2020, the government updated the list of 215 strategically important drugs, the production of which should be fully located in the country. By 2024-2025, a full production cycle in Russia should be provided for 65% of such drugs, by 2030 — for 80%, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized. “These are mainly painkillers, cardiovascular and oncological drugs <…>”, Golikova specified.