Current issue #7, 2016

Federal medical institutions cannot get payments for their services from insurers

The role of insurance companies in the mandatory medical insurance (MMI) system has been recently discussed quite often. At the end of 2015, the auditors of the Audit Chamber raised a question on the necessity to specify the functions of medical insurance organizations after they checked the latter’s activities for 2014—2015. Until recently, federal medical institutions have been funded from the budget. In 2015, they came under the MMI and were extremely surprised to see how the whole thing was organized and running. They came to a paradoxical conclusion as follows: it often seems that the insurers’ main function in the MMI system is preventing payments for the medical services provided.

[PharmVestnik # 7, 01/03/2016, p. 1, cont’d p. 3]

Localization of blood derived products requires access to APIs

Up to date, blood derived products were produced at blood transfusion stations and specialized clinics. Many things are lacking for a wide-scale production. E.g., there were no appropriate drug monographs before 2015. Currently, this issue has been taken care of. However, the most pressing problem is collecting blood plasma that is the API for this drug group. It will be premature to discuss localization of blood derived drug manufacture in Russia until a plasma collection process is established.

[PharmVestnik # 7, 01/03/2016, p. 2]

A competition patent

FAS plans amendments to patent legislation

Until mid-December 2015, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) had been collecting Pharma market players’ opinions on unreasonable issuance of patents. As a result, at the end of February, the FAS officials presented their proposals on amendments to be made to the patent legislation. Not all experts concur with the FAS’s vision of the issue.

[PharmVestnik # 7, 01/03/2016, p....