ACHI at the Russian Pharmaceutical Forum
The Association acted as an information partner of the XXXI Russian Pharmaceutical Forum, which was held in St. Petersburg on May 14-15, 2024.
Elena Nevolina, Executive Director of AIT, was a speaker at the session "Price Regulation to ensure the availability of medicines" with Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Viktor Dmitriev, Chairman of the Public Council at Roszdravnadzor, Director General of the ARFP, Larisa Popovich, Director of the Institute of Health Economics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and representatives of manufacturing companies. Nevolina suggested reviewing the availability of a wide range of over-the-counter medicines in the List of VED together with the chief specialists of the Ministry of Health. The presence of certain drugs on this list may be impractical, since according to the legislation its task is to treat socially significant diseases.
Competition in the over-the-counter segment can contribute to price stability and increased product diversity. This is evidenced by AlphaRM's data on the margin in the retail market: the margin on OTC drugs not included in the list of VED is equal to or lower than the margin on OTC drugs included in the list of VED. Pharmacy retailers have no incentive to make margins on OTC drugs included in the list of VED below the level set by the regulator. At the same time, competition in the segment of OTC drugs that are not included in the list of VED restrains the growth of margins. In addition, after the withdrawal of INN meldonium from the list of VED in 2021, sales growth of over-the-counter forms of meldonium outstripped the category by 48 times, and the number of SKUs on the market increased from 4 to 7.
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Elena Nevolina, Executive Director of AIT, was a speaker at the session "Price Regulation to ensure the availability of medicines" with Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Viktor Dmitriev, Chairman of the Public Council at Roszdravnadzor, Director General of the ARFP, Larisa Popovich, Director of the Institute of Health Economics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and representatives of manufacturing companies. Nevolina suggested reviewing the availability of a wide range of over-the-counter medicines in the List of VED together with the chief specialists of the Ministry of Health. The presence of certain drugs on this list may be impractical, since according to the legislation its task is to treat socially significant diseases.
Competition in the over-the-counter segment can contribute to price stability and increased product diversity. This is evidenced by AlphaRM's data on the margin in the retail market: the margin on OTC drugs not included in the list of VED is equal to or lower than the margin on OTC drugs included in the list of VED. Pharmacy retailers have no incentive to make margins on OTC drugs included in the list of VED below the level set by the regulator. At the same time, competition in the segment of OTC drugs that are not included in the list of VED restrains the growth of margins. In addition, after the withdrawal of INN meldonium from the list of VED in 2021, sales growth of over-the-counter forms of meldonium outstripped the category by 48 times, and the number of SKUs on the market increased from 4 to 7.