Petrovax President Mikhail Tsyferov spoke about how to increase the availability of the latest medicines at the 2nd National Health Congress

Noncommunicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, oncology, diabetes, etc.) are one of the global challenges of modern medicine. The state is implementing a set of measures to prevent and treat noncommunicable diseases and is also looking for ways to increase the availability of medicines. Experts spoke about this at the 2nd National Health Congress.

“We can reduce the price of a drug and provide access to more patients by releasing a generic or biosimilar. And if the drug is still protected by a patent, then the solution may be to release drugs with the same target (me-too drugs) or with added properties — biobetters. We see our mission as a business in the fight against noncommunicable diseases to provide many high-quality affordable drugs,”
said Mikhail Tsyferov, President of Petrovax.

Petrovax is already importing to Russia a biosimilar to the drug agalsidase beta (the drug Fabagal®) from the Korean company ISU Abxis for the treatment of an orphan disease — Fabry disease. At the same time, the cost of a biosimilar is 40% lower than the original product, which significantly saves the budget and increases the availability of therapy for patients[1]. By 2024, Petrovax will complete localization of the drug through the full cycle, including the substance. Completely Russian production will ensure the supply of the drug to the market.

Another way is to create new molecules for an already found target (me-too drugs):

“We are increasingly beginning to perceive China as a technological leader. In 3-4 years, Chinese companies will be able to become absolute leaders in new molecules and become a new source of licensed drugs,”
says Mikhail Tsyferov.

This year, Petrovax entered into a licensing agreement with one of the largest Chinese companies, Jiangsu Hengrui, for several me-too drugs. The key drug is Camrelizumab, which blocks the PD-1 protein. 33 clinical studies have already been conducted around the world, including Russia, Europe, the USA, and South Korea. Camrelizumab is registered in China, where more than 300 thousand patients have been treated, and the European regulator is considering its registration dossier. In Russia, the drug Camrelizumab will be registered in 2024, followed by phased localization to the substance stage.

“Camrelizumab is a molecule with unique indications in oncology, which significantly expands the capabilities of modern medicine,”
concluded the President of Petrovax.

1 https://grls.minzdrav.gov.ru/PriceLims.aspx?TradeName=%D0%A4%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BB&INN=&RegNumber=&OrgName=&Barcode=&OrderNumber=&OuterState=60&PageSize=&OrderBy=pklimprice&OrderType=desc
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