International pharmaceutical industry offers a new level of professional dialogue and partnership

On May 15, 2018 in the frame of Russian Pharmaceutical Forum in St. Petersburg, a press briefing of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIPM) was held, entitled “PHARMA 2030: what is needed to develop innovation and attract investment in the pharmaceutical industry in Russia?”.
 

Participants of the discussion were Vadim Vlasov, President of the Novartis Group Russia, Regional Director of Novartis for Eastern and Central Europe and the CIS, Chairman of the AIPM Board of Directors, Vasily Ignatiev, CEO, R-Pharm, Vice-chairman AIPM Board of Directors, Naira Adamyan, General Manager Rx Eurasia, Sanofi, member of the AIPM Board of Directors, Eric Patrouillard, Country Manager Pfizer Russia and Central Asia, member of AIPM Board of Directors and Jana Nackberg, Deputy Director on International Affairs of European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).

For implementation of the Strategy “Pharma 2020” the international pharmaceutical companies members of AIPM made unprecedented investments in localization and technology transfer projects on the territory of Russia, which continue to develop in form and content, including by expanding the number of localized medicines, as well as involving Russian scientific community in the full-scale clinical research.

Currently, the federal executive bodies actively discuss the directions and target indicators of the new state program “Pharma 2030”, the main lines of which should be the implementation of R&D projects on the territory of our country, as well as the building the export-oriented models for the industry. These aims will require a qualitatively new level of partnership between the state and the industry and even greater mutual trust, especially in the light of priority goals and objectives defined by the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin for the development of the public healthcare system, accelerating the technological development of Russia, as well as becoming our country among of the five largest economies of the world and the leading countries that carry out scientific research and development in strategic areas.

“The Russian President gives us very specifies landmarks for the development and progress. In new “May decrees” he pointed out the vectors of development that concerns us from the first to the last word, and it is obvious that the pharmaceutical industry should work in close partnership with the state”, said the meeting moderator Vladimir Shipkov, Executive Director of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIPM) in his introductory remarks. – “The Russian market now creates prerequisites for the development of innovative pharmaceutical industry, based on the imperative of respect for intellectual property rights. And we connect the development of the market with the attraction of innovations and investments, as well as the search for solutions to the current problems of an appropriate regime for protection of rights to the results of intellectual activity, medicine provisions, industrial policy, and other areas of fundamental importance for the industry. We are convinced that the new state programs on the development of the pharmaceutical industry and public healthcare are interconnected and interdependent state programs with a common global goal - to increase the accessibility of modern innovative treatment for our population”.

Vadim Vlasov, President of the Novartis Group Russia, Regional Director of Novartis for Eastern and Central Europe and the CIS, Chairman of the AIPM Board of Directors, noted that “Outlining the milestones of the new “Pharma 2030” Strategy, AIPM reaffirms its commitment to the strategic partnership and cooperation with all governmental bodies authorized to develop and increase the innovative potential of the Russian pharmaceutical industry, provide sustained drug provision of our population with modern high-technology medicines. While we have accomplished much already, there is still more to be done. Since the development of R&D sphere is rightly stated as one of the key priorities of the new strategy, we think that it will require a new level of partnership between the government and the industry. And we are ready for this”.

Vasily Ignatiev, CEO, R-Pharm, Vice-chairman AIPM Board of Directors, also stressed the need to take measures to protect intellectual property rights. He said that today both the government and the society are ready to address the fundamental issues of intellectual property rights protection, which will determine the strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry. “It is especially important to put in the basis of the strategy the principles that allow to preserve the access of Russian citizens to the most modern innovative medicines and also create grounds for the release of origin medicines of Russian companies to international markets”, he stated.

The experts noted that to develop the innovations in Russia and attract the investments it is essential for the industry and the regulatory bodies to work together in various areas, with the priority being certainly given to ensuring the proper legal protection of intellectual property rights. Alongside with that, the interests and needs of the patients must always be prioritized. These were the main points stressed by Eric Patrouillard, Country Manager Pfizer Russia and Central Asia, member of AIPM Board of Directors. “An effective intellectual property rights protection framework is essential if Russian patients are to benefit from the best healthcare, and if collectively we are to meet the latest government target of increasing national life expectancy. Intellectual property rights underpin the pharmaceutical industry’s ability to innovate; to bring medicines to patients that help combat NCDs, contribute to programs to tackle the burden of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Robust IP protection stimulates economic growth in the sector. Without effective protection, the incentives for companies to invest is fundamentally undermined. The right framework helps creates an environment in which inward investment in health partnerships, local manufacturing and local R&D can flourish – and that leads to better outcomes for Russian patients.”

These arguments were also supported by Naira Adamyan, General Manager Rx Eurasia, Sanofi, member of the AIPM Board of Directors. “The course towards innovation and their support is the key to the successful development of any industry, especially as science-driven as pharmaceutics. That is why it is important that the priority of innovation should consistently accompany all government initiatives. We highly appreciate the approaches to supporting innovation from the Russian authorities, and we put high hopes on the “Pharma 2030” program, understanding at the same time that there is still much to be done in the future. Protection of the results of intellectual activity must undoubtedly be reflected in the reform of the legal framework and in the system of public procurement: the possibility to obtain the status of the sole supplier for innovation manufacturers, the withdrawal of patent protected products from the auction system, and special investment contracts (SIC). Talking about the SIC, we see it as a tool to be used primarily to transfer of the technologies which do not yet exist in Russia. This was the philosophy we followed in Sanofi when we signed the SIC which included modernization of the technologies of the plant for the production of innovative basal insulin of a new generation. Of course, when we speak about innovation, it is not our final goal to bring up innovation, we ultimately aim at providing innovation for the patients, allowing them to have more access to modern therapy. And this is where we have the quite important issue of medicine reimbursement system. We are absolutely convinced that our country should move towards full provision with innovative medicines for patients who need them. The pharmaceutical market is ready to implement the modern models of public procurement, which are widely discussed. Sanofi has offered to the government the innovative models of co-financing for the treatment results. With our extensive expertise in such key therapy areas as diabetes, rare diseases, immunologic medicines and vaccines as well as a good understanding of the existing mechanisms and tools, we are ready to continue working in this direction because we are sure that these advanced models will contribute to a more efficient spending of state budgets and therefore to provide more Russian patients with the most modern medicines”, Naira Adamyan said.

Jana Nackberg, Deputy Director on International Affairs of European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) stated in her speech that though EFPIA today unites pharmaceutical markets around the world, it still pays high attention to the Russian market. “It is great to see Russia as part of the global pharmaceutical community now making effort to harmonize the regulations and procedures in compliance with international standards and practices including relating to the protection of intellectual property rights. This being said, we keep as our priorities the availability of modern medicines for Russian patients and improving the business environment for companies implementing investment projects in Russia. In partnership with AIPM, we will continue to work in these areas”.

“We hope to build a meaningful and professional dialog with the new composition of the Government of the Russian Federation from the very start of its work, and we will try to make steps in this direction already in the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where the international pharmaceutical industry will be represented at an unprecedented high level”, - Vladimir Shipkov, AIPM Executive Director, summarized the discussion.