Translated material
Stock warehouse pulls
Speed sales have begun on the pharmaceutical market
Foreign pharmaceutical companies have actually stopped supplying medicines to Russia, however, a shortage of medicines is not expected this year. A message from the Federal Customs Service released at the end of last week notes that in September, supplies of medicines from abroad decreased by $1 million 406 thousand, or 3.6 times, compared to August. According to Vremya Novostei, many importing distributors did not work at all for the first ten days of autumn. “The actions of the regulatory authorities after the new procedure for importing medicines came into force were too contradictory and incomprehensible,” explained a representative of one of the large companies. Let us remind you that on September 1, the Law “On the Circulation of Medicines” came into force, which imposes new requirements for packaging and does not allow drugs to be imported into the country in old-style packaging.Market analysts warned that Western pharmaceutical manufacturers would try to stock up in the summer and “go into hibernation” in the fall in the spring, immediately after the adoption of the new law. Then representatives of foreign companies readily explained that their production cycle does not allow for quick changes to the information contained on the packaging and in the instructions for the drugs, and the Russian law gives less than six months for this (now it is required to indicate the registration certificate number on the packaging and in the instructions) . Western pharma demanded at least a year for these changes, but, not receiving a deferment, created a large reserve. Fortunately, the new law in its spring form allowed the circulation of medicines in outdated packaging until the expiration date with only one condition - the drug must cross the Russian border before September 1.
But by the fall, the Ministry of Health and Social Development had prepared and passed through the State Duma and the government with record speed several amendments to the newly adopted legislative act, including one that limits the market circulation of drugs in old packaging to March 2011. From April 1, all remaining stock in old-style packaging, regardless of when they were imported, will be illegal.
It is not surprising that when the mousetrap slammed, supplies “died,” says Nikolai Demidov, general director of the Pharmexpert marketing research center. According to him, the situation in companies is now tense; they have to sell medicines literally at speed. “A seasonal increase in demand should help destroy stocks, that’s all we hope for,” Mr. Demidov told Vremya Novostei. Andrey Mladentsev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the logistics company Farmat LLC, is also confident that companies will have to develop additional marketing activity in order not to remain defeated in this pharmaceutical race. “I am ready to confirm that the companies we work with became significantly more active at the beginning of summer, but the peak of imports occurred, of course, in August. At the moment, our warehouses are four to five times fuller than usual,” Mr. Mladentsev told Vremya Novostey. He is confident that the intensification of competition in the pharmaceutical market, artificially caused by the actions of the Russian authorities, will only benefit both the market itself and consumers. Andrei Mladentsev believes that it is always useful to cheer up and weed out weak players, especially in such a market overflowing with offers as the pharmaceutical one.
“In August, more than $2 billion worth of medicines were imported to Russia, which is twice the July level and almost 60% more than in the same period in 2009,” confirmed Sergei Shulyak, CEO of the marketing agency DSM Group. . Nevertheless, the expert is confident that the reserves will be sold in full; our market in the winter is a real bottomless barrel.