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News from pain: morphine with a new method of administration will make life easier for cancer patients
In Russia, starting in February 2026, morphine will be available for anesthetic care to patients with a new, more effective method of administration — into the spinal canal. This was reported to Izvestia by the press service of the manufacturer of the drug, FSUE Endopharm (Moscow Endocrine Plant). According to doctors, the new method of using the drug will help to relieve severe pain that could not be relieved by other drugs. Experts note that the range of pharmaceutical forms of narcotic analgesics in Russia is developing slowly, so they called the appearance of a new version of the painkiller a big plus.
A new method of using morphine
The first batches of morphine, which can be injected intrathecally into the cerebrospinal fluid, have been released onto the Russian market. More than 150 thousand packages were produced, FSUE Endopharm (Moscow Endocrine Plant, overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Trade) told Izvestia. The launch into civil circulation is scheduled for February 2026.
The method of drug delivery directly into the spinal canal, when the drug enters the cerebrospinal fluid, allows achieving a powerful and persistent analgesic effect at a lower dose and significantly reducing systemic side effects, Denis Protsenko, director of the MMCC Kommunarka, chief freelance specialist in anesthesiology and intensive care at the Moscow City Department of Health, explained to Izvestia.
The expert clarified that this method of administration is used to help patients with severe chronic pain that cannot be relieved by other methods and to perform spinal anesthesia during surgical operations. He called the emergence of intrathecal morphine "sovereignty in pain therapy."
"We are moving away from dependence on imports in one of the most sensitive areas,— Denis Protsenko said. — Patients with cancer and other serious diseases will receive a long-awaited effective tool to combat pain.
Efim Shifman, President of the Association of Obstetric Anesthesiologists and Intensive Care Physicians, Vice—President of the Federation of Anesthesiologists and Intensive Care Physicians, listed the advantages of the intrathecal method of administration of the drug - fast effect, long-lasting effect and reduction in the frequency of injections.
"This is relevant for many types of pathologies that are accompanied by a long recovery period," he said.
In addition, the drug can be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, subcutaneously, epidurally in the treatment of persistent pain syndrome, acute forms of coronary heart disease, preoperative and postoperative periods, respiratory failure, as well as for anesthetic support of cesarean section surgery when performing neuroaxial anesthesia methods.
Earlier, together with the expert medical community, Endopharm worked out and amended the instructions for use of the drug "Morphine, solution for injection 10 mg/ ml" — a new method of administration was added there. The drug appeared as part of the implementation of the State Strategy for the Development of Healthcare for the period up to 2030" (approved on December 8, 2025).
How the new method works
Morphine as a component of opium is considered one of the oldest drugs used by mankind, said Olga Kirsanova, an oncologist and senior researcher at the Herzen Moscow Research Institute of Oncology (branch of the National Research Medical Center of Radiology).
— The latest medical achievement in this area was the invention of the intrathecal method of morphine administration. It allows you to deliver an analgesic directly to the pain pathways in the spinal cord, which opens up new opportunities for doctors. The dose of morphine for intrathecal administration is one hundred times less, and the effectiveness of anesthesia is higher," the scientist clarified.
Today in Russia, three clinics have mastered the method of intrathecal administration. The latest change in the instructions for the drug will allow spreading this experience throughout the country, increasing the number of medical institutions that will be able to use this method of treating chronic pain.
—The specialists of the P.A. Herzen Moscow Institute of Medical Sciences are confident that in situations where the cause of chronic pain cannot be eliminated, intrathecal opioid therapy becomes one of the most effective and safe options for patient care," said Olga Kirsanova.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia that its subordinate FSUE Endopharm "ensures uninterrupted supply of medical institutions in all regions of the Russian Federation with drugs for complex anesthesia and surgical treatment of patients in accordance with the needs of specialized clinics."
"The production facilities allow for the annual production of more than 7 million packages of medicines for inpatient use in operating rooms," they said.
The department called the new method of using the drug a response to current requests from the medical community.
The range of medicinal forms of such analgesics in Russia is developing extremely slowly, and they are still insufficient for the needs of modern medicine, said Nikolai Bespalov, Director of Development at RNC Pharma, an analytical company.
According to him, in 2025, the Russian market received almost 12 million packages of drugs from this group of analgesics.
— This is 1% less than in 2024, before that, this market segment had been steadily growing for four consecutive years, in particular, 12.1 million packages were delivered in 2024, which is 15.6% more than in 2023. So a 1% drop is very conditional here," the expert pointed out.
According to him, domestic manufacturers have always played a major role in this group, which is due to the peculiarities of the regulatory treatment of such drugs. The main role in the group is played by tramadol drugs — in total they form about 81% of the volume.
Morphine drugs account for 6% of the market. Up to and including 2019, the Austrian pharmaceutical company Mundipharma supplied a tablet form of the drug to Russia, but starting in 2020, the Moscow Endocrine Plant remained its only supplier.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
