Russian pharmaceutical companies to get subsidies to develop foreign drug analogues - Mishustin

MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax) - Russian pharmaceutical companies will be entitled to state subsidies to develop domestic analogues of foreign-made medicines, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.

"The government will provide extra support to our pharmaceutical manufacturers. They will be able to receive state subsidies to develop and subsequently register domestic drugs whose analogues are currently covered by foreign patents," Mishustin said at a meeting with deputy prime ministers.

"We are referring to strategically important medicines that patients need the most," he said.

"The amount of funding for such innovative projects will vary from 50 million to 100 million rubles," Mishustin said.

Such support will be provided only to organizations that have enough expertise and competencies in this area, he said.

This funding will be spent on procuring equipment and paying employees directly involved in the substitution of relevant drugs, he said.

"This decision will help to promptly organize our own production after foreign patents expire. This is especially important amid the external pressure all of us are facing today," he said.