On May 14, in Moscow, Lidings held PHARMAtory - a traditional event for representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, where we discuss the most topical issues of the industry. This year the meeting took place during the Semashko Russian Pharmaceutical Forum in St. Petersburg (May 14 - 15).
Lidings Managing Partner Andrey Zelenin participated as a speaker at the Forum in the Northern capital (more about this event here), while the PHARMAtory in Moscow was moderated by Lidings partner Boris Malakhov and the firm's counsel Natalya Thotahewage.
During the Moscow’s gathering, a teleconference with Andrey Zelenin was organized directly from the fields of the Semashko Forum. Andrey shared insights from the plenary session on the development of the industry in the new reality and global trends in pharmaceutical development.
We also conducted a survey among the guests of the PHARMAtory on the current problems of the pharmaceutical industry (the results of the survey are in our Telegram channel).
Among the questions were the issues of PHARMAtory - 2022 (more about this event here), the guests of the event were also asked to assess the relevance of the issues included in the agenda of the plenary session of the Semashko Forum for their companies.
Takeaways:
If in 2022, the respondents considered the adaptation of business to maintain a presence in the market as the main problem for the industry, now the focus has shifted to the problem of working with sub-sanctioned companies, as well as the issues of intellectual property protection in Russia and the EAEU.
Two years ago, the undisputed leader in terms of the industry's concerns was primarily new forms of unfair competition in connection with the crisis, as well as uncertainty about the duration and possible deepening of the sanctions regime. In 2024, the latter is still a concern and growing. In addition, a serious increase in concerns is noted with regards to new forms of state control (directly and indirectly) over the activities of manufacturing companies, as well as parallel imports.
Both in 2022 and 2024, such opportunities for business as bringing to the attention of regulators the problems long overdue in the sector, for the prompt adoption of current changes in legislation and optimization of business processes with reduced bureaucracy in decision-making within companies received approximately equal rating.
Among the global trends in the pharmaceutical industry, artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data are undisputed leaders in Russia. Blockchain and virtual reality technologies showed not as relevant in the Russian industry.
The three main vectors of transformation of the domestic pharmaceutical market are a deep degree of localization, compulsory licenses and innovative drugs, primarily local ones. Among the emerging trends, entry into foreign markets is highlighted.
According to the survey results, we can also conclude that the main obstacles to entering foreign markets are competition on them, the impact of sanctions on the purchase of pharmaceutical components and the duration of product registration.
Among the measures to support the pharmaceutical industry, the leading ones are zeroing of customs duties, special investment contracts, and the "second extra" mechanism.
We will see to what extent these trends will unfold over the current year. We will keep an eye on the situation and keep you informed.