The Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare has unveiled a new roadmap, that outlines significant changes to the mechanism for controlling the prices of medicines in Russia from 2024 onwards. This includes vital and essential (VED) medicines, which are crucial to public health. The pricing data for these medicines will now be integrated into the Federal System for Monitoring the Movement of Medicines.
Currently, the database captures detailed information about participants in the pharmaceutical product turnover covering all actions from the introduction into circulation, through the supply chain of manufacturers, intermediaries, medical centers, and pharmacies, to repackaging or withdrawal from circulation.
The new initiative will also record the cost of drugs listed as vital and essential, which are subject to state price control. Traditionally, the monitoring of medicine prices and the review of complaints about overpricing have been managed by regional tariff committees and the Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare.
However, with the latest changes, this process is set to become fully automated, enhancing efficiency and transparency. With these updates, it is anticipated that the likelihood of unscheduled inspections will increase, due to more rigorous and closely monitored pricing of medicines on the VED list.
The first pricing report by the Federal Service for Supervision of Healthcare is currently in preparation. This report will pave the way for more comprehensive future reports that will detail both retail and wholesale prices across the outpatient and hospital segments.