Big Pharma's Control over the Russian Government Drug Procurement Tenders Market is Slipping Away

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, October 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Russian pharmaceutical companies are actively  squeezing out foreign therapeutic manufacturers from the government tenders. The рatients' support state program allocates the highest budget for rituximab, a drug used in the treatment of hematological cancers. In 2013, 217 million dollars were appropriated from the federal budget for this drug alone. This year, for the first time, Russian biosimilar drug AcellBia will be supplied under this program.

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For years, all income from sales of rituximab in Russia was booked by the sole producer of the drug, the Swiss company "F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG". In 2014, the Russian drug company BIOCAD entered the Russian market with Accellbia®, biosimilar of Hoffmann-La Roche's MabThera/Rituxan, and as a result the situation has drastically changed.

The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation will purchase rituximab produced by a Russian company for patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Currently, a set of documents is under review by regulators at the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation examining the possibility of granting public contract to BIOCAD, Russian biosimilar rituximab producer, based on the announced results of the tender.

Russian Government's purchase of rituximab in 2014 is approximately 146 million dollars.

About CJSC BIOCAD 

Headquartered in St, Petersburg, Russia, joint-stock company BIOCAD is a leading Russian private biopharmaceutical company, specializing in research, development and manufacture of generic, biosimilar and innovative drugs. BIOACAD works to provide more affordable therapeutic proteins and small-molecule generics to patients who previously had limited access to high-value drugs in the areas of oncology, autoimmune and infectious diseases.

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SOURCE BIOCAD