The Russians complain about the lack of immunoglobulin and levodopa. “Paper”

Russians suffering from immunodeficiency cannot receive vital immunoglobulin. About this edition of Vedomosti told The Society of Patients with This Disease and the Sunflower Foundation.

In addition, patients with Parkinson’s disease faced a shortage of life-saving medicines based on levodopa, reported Kommersant edition.

Why Russia lacks immunoglobulin. According to a survey by the Society of Patients with Primary Immunodeficiency, 141 out of 200 respondents were deficient in the drug. Residents of St. Petersburg, as well as residents of Tatarstan and the Krasnodar Territory, complained about the lack of medicines.

Vedomosti, citing the Ministry of Health, added that in the first nine months of 2022, 388,000 packages of immunoglobulin were introduced into civilian circulation. For comparison: for the whole of 2021, 441 thousand packages were put into circulation. According to representatives of the department, there is no shortage of the drug.

Nikolai Bespalov, director of the analytical company RNC Pharma, said that the volume of immunoglobulin intake had indeed increased, but the shape of the packages had changed. If we recalculate them into doses, then the total output decreased by 12%, Bespalov added.

What happens to drugs based on levodopa. On the shortage of drugs for those suffering from Parkinson’s disease Kommersant informed in April. Then the authors of the publication wrote that several foreign companies stopped importing drugs based on levodopa at the end of 2020 and 2021.

Later, the Ministry of Health increased the purchase prices for drugs from pharmaceutical manufacturers Canonpharma, Izvarino Pharma and Indian Sun Pharmaceuticals, and in May the Federal Antimonopoly Service doubled the price limits for drugs due to the risk of shortages.

At the same time, the companies were refused to register under the old conditions, which is why Sun Pharmaceuticals “finally” decided to leave the Russian market. Subsequently, a shortage of another drug based on levodopa, Nakom, was discovered in Russia.

Director of RNC Pharma Bespalov said that over the past year, the supply of all drugs based on levodopa has decreased by 49%, and some drugs have not been supplied at all.

What you need to know about drug supply. The All-Russian Union of Patients also asked the Ministry of Health to adjust the requirements for supplied recognition CAR-T drugs November 9. According to representatives of the association, the current law “On the Circulation of Medicines” does not allow the supply of these drugs in Russia.

Members of the patients’ union noted that Russian legislation requires testing several packages of imported drugs and issuing a protocol based on the results. However, these requirements only work for large batches of drugs, according to the association. So, the creators of CAR-T drugs import one package for a specific patient, so it is impossible to test it.

What is known about other drug deficiencies. At the end of October, the manufacturer of Zoloft informed on the suspension of the supply of antidepressants to Russian pharmacies. Former drug disappeared from Russian cities in 2020 and 2021, as well as in the spring of 2022.