Within the framework of the extended meeting of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation held on May, 27, Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, was made aware of the list of perspective innovative projects and solutions supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and associations of entrepreneurs, among which were the projects of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Pharmaceutical industry is historically regarded as one of the most knowledge intensive industries, where the share of innovative projects is significantly higher than that in other industrial sectors. Meanwhile, given the current sales volumes and profit amounts even in leading Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers the resources available for development and introduction of innovative drug products are obviously limited.
However, the leading Russian companies update their portfolios on a regular basis substituting previously developed generics for more advanced ones and even introduce innovative drug products. The dramatic confirmation of this is an advance of the domestic company AO "Pharm-Sintez" in development of Milanfor, the anti-tumor agent - the first in the world analogue of the foreign innovator drug Velcade.
Russian specialists have developed a unique method of manufacture of the drug, other than that used by the originator company. The efficacy and safety of this drug product have been shown in the extensive development program. However, according to domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers, these may remain solitary instances since there are no stimuli for any research activities within the Russian pharmaceutical industry: expensive credits and debt instruments, underdeveloped venture capital market, lack of preferences for domestic manufacturers in government procurements.
overnment procurements.