Without exaggeration, we can say that the provision of citizens with medicines and drugs is an important component of the national security of the state. And pharmaceutical production is the most important socially significant sector of the economy.
Government support
Today, the social significance of such products as pharmaceuticals, the production of which is established on the territory of our country, has reached such a level that the government is forced to pay serious attention to projects involving the development of this industry. It should be noted that in recent years a number of program documents have been adopted that facilitate the organization and development of production, including pharmaceutical substances, but the situation in this area still does not inspire optimism, and that is why.
Important industry features
Pharmaceutical production has its own characteristics. They are represented by:
- high science-intensive products;
- a significant duration of the process of developing new medicinal components, as well as related drugs;
- a long life cycle of drugs, including all stages - development, production and sale of products;
- the nature and duration of the production cycle necessary for the production of finished products;
- a wide variety of types of technological processes that are used in such areas as the production of pharmaceutical substances;
- a wide variety of types of raw materials and materials, as well as equipment used in the production cycle;
- multi-stage technological processes.
Investment
From the perspective of a potential investor, the production of pharmaceutical products has a number of distinctive features. And the main negative points that are worth paying attention to are:
- Higher investment attractiveness of the production of finished products, that is, medicines, in comparison with the production of medicinal substances. Such a tendency was formed under the influence of modern economic conditions. This fact can be explained by the high material and energy intensity of production of standardized semi-finished products, which led to a decrease in the profitability of their production, and sometimes to a loss-making of such production.
- The recent increase in the cost of material resources, which has also caused a significant increase in the cost of substances produced in our country. The consequence of this is an increase in prices for them to a level exceeding the world one. Such trends have led pharmaceutical manufacturing to become unable to offer competitive products.
- Providing foreign manufacturers with easy access to the pharmaceutical market of our country. This created enormous competition for each domestic manufacturer, which in most cases is not able to withstand the active expansion of low-cost substances of low quality on the domestic market.
The main trends of the pharmaceutical market
According to some estimates, the pharmaceutical market, in recent years, in our country reaches 1 trillion rubles. At the same time, domestic medicines in the total volume of products sold of this type make up only about 25%, in monetary terms and approximately 60% - in kind.
Hot issues
Today, one of the most pressing issues that concern people interested in the development of domestic pharmaceutical production is the origin of standardized semi-finished products, which are the basis for the production of finished drugs in our country. Unfortunately, the conclusions of experts do not inspire optimism for domestic manufacturers. The pharmaceutical production of medicinal components in our country is practically not developed.
Import of pharmaceutical substances
With regard to imports, in recent years there has been a situation where about 80% of the volume of imported pharmaceutical substances in monetary terms is occupied by Germany, France, Italy and China.
It is noteworthy that, when considering the natural expression of import volumes, completely different figures are obtained. So, its largest share today is China - it is more than 70% of the total. Considering the ratio of specific shares calculated by physical and value indicators, we can conclude that the substances produced in the named country are characterized by a much lower price in comparison with similar products from other countries.
What is imported
Import mainly includes components of a very long-known drugs, represented by acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, sodium metamizole, metformin, ascorbic acid and others, which are in demand among the population mainly due to low cost.
An expert assessment suggests that the share of production at domestic enterprises is characterized by a negligible figure, 8-9% of the total pharmaceutical market.
conclusions
Probably, the above facts allow us to state the evidence of the need to restore the production volumes of the products in question. The technology of pharmaceutical production of substances should be restored and fully applied. The development of this sphere is necessary in the first place in order to ensure the national security of the state.
Such statements are not empty words at all. Many manufacturers are faced with the fact of providing the domestic economy with substances from foreign suppliers according to the residual principle. And this cannot but cause concern.