Current issue #8, 2017

Pharma community speculates about recent resignations of GPP top managers

Good Pharmacy Partners (GPP), the largest marketing partnership of independent pharmacies and pharmacy chains founded by 36.6 Group, lost two of their top managers over the last month, i.e. President Konstantin Tiunov and COO Garik Tadevosyan. Such massive executive resignations set pharma market players thinking about upcoming structural changes including breakup. The Pharmacy Chain 36.6 management notes that the resignations of the top managers are not due to any conflicts within the company and are solely associated with their desire to develop further in other companies.

[PharmVestnik # 08, 14/03/2017, p. 1, cont’d p. 4]

Antitrust reprisals

FAS makes pharma manufacturers cut prices

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has succeeded in decreasing prices for more than 100 drugs – for the first time in Russia’s newest history, according to FAS head Igor Artemiev. The official explained that his method was very simple: if manufacturers do not cut prices, “we oust them from the market altogether”. A few days later PharmVestnik came to know that in fact there were more than 200 drugs with their prices cut. Experts think that it is good but that consumers will see the result only provided that drug prices are decreased on a mass scale.

[PharmVestnik # 08, 14/03/2017, p. 2]

Some experts speak about complete termination of cell technology law

On March 7^th, the President of Russia signed a Federal law on introducing state fees for biomedical cell product (BMCP) registration. Three MoH-drafted documents on BMCP are currently undergoing public debate. One determines the ways to suspend the use of products if they are human life and health threatening; the other approves the Drug Master File amendment statement form; still other regulates that the BMCP quality assessment shall be conducted at its place of manufacture using the manufacturer’s equipment. Besides samples and materials, the manufacturer must provide the equipment as well as consumables and reagents required to operate such equipment. However, some exper...