That Russia will benefit from the production of generics together with India. Analysis

India is interested in establishing joint production of drug components in Russia. This was announced at the Russian-Indian SPIEF 2025 session on June 19. Meanwhile, the countries have been cooperating in this industry for more than a year. What benefits the creation of a joint production of pharmaceutical components with India promises to Russia is in the Izvestia article.

The need for generics

• One of the priorities of Russian healthcare policy is drug safety. Until 2021, Russia was partially dependent on the import of foreign drugs. In order to provide medicines to the population, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development has limited the possibility of extending patents for original drugs from June 8, 2021. This decision cleared the way for generic drug manufacturers to enter the market.

• Drug production in Russia increased by 9.6% in 2024 due to preferences for domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers. The country has a "Products on the shelf" program, under which a manufacturer receives a subsidy for the development and registration of an analog of a foreign patented drug after the patent expires or if the foreign manufacturer has stopped supplying it to Russia. When purchasing drugs from the list of strategically important medicines, the "second extra" mechanism operates, which gives priority to drugs localized in Russia: from September 2025, it will apply to the components of medicines.

• Despite the growth of domestic pharmaceutical production, purchases of imported medicines increased by 10.1% in 2024, and generics and biosimilars — that is, drugs that are similar to original medicines in quality, efficacy and safety, but do not reproduce their formula like generics — continued to displace proprietary products in Russian pharmacies.

• India is considered the leader in the production of generic drugs in the world, which provides 20% of global exports of generic drugs and covers 40% of U.S. generic imports. In 2023 , India became the largest supplier of generic drugs in Russia, ahead in the lead up to this, Germany.

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The Component Market

• The main problem faced by pharmaceutical companies in the production of drugs in Russia is the shortage of drug components. In 2022, China provided the majority of all pharmaceutical substances supplied to Russia — 57.4%. India was in second place among component suppliers with 16.1%.

• The deployment of joint production of ingredients for medicines in Russia with India, which was discussed at the SPIEF, can significantly support domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers. In October 2024, Russian pharmaceutical companies faced a shortage of imported raw materials for the production of medicines: due to sanctions, China stopped supplying Russia with a number of items necessary for the production of medicines.

Prospects of the Russian pharmaceutical market

• Drug safety lies not only in the localization of drug production in Russia, but also in facilitating the registration of medicines and ensuring international cooperation. Industry experts believe that it is more important to ensure the availability of innovative drugs for the patient than to organize production in Russia.

• At the end of 2025, the Russian pharmaceutical industry will join the single market of medicines within the framework of the Eurasian Union. Due to this, medicines from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan that meet the requirements of the Russian Ministry of Health may appear in Russian pharmacies.

• Domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers will also gain access to the markets of other countries. Russia already boasts its own unique medicines and developments — an original antibiotic ("Fluorothiazinone"), drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, cancer, idiopathic recurrent pericarditis, as well as modern vaccines.