On September 9, a meeting of the BRICS Working Group for the Research of Competition Issues in Pharmaceutical Markets was held in Wuhan, China. FAS of Russia is a co-chair of the Working Group along with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of the People's Republic of China.
The issues of developing competition and fair pricing in pharmaceutical markets are a key issues and always on the agenda of competition authorities, including BRICS countries. Increasing access to the market for biosimilars of a medicine, so-called generic, contributes to the efficient functioning of the market and stimulates price reductions.
The development and production of biosimilars helps to increase the availability of medicines for citizens. At the same time, this process is multi-stage and complex and requires significant healthcare costs. Currently, there is a tendency in the world to simplify regulatory requirements for the development of biosimilars, including with the aim of increasing the competitiveness of medicines.
During this meeting, participants discussed issues of fair pricing in pharmaceutical markets, in particular the relationship between the production of biosimilars and the price level, with an emphasis on specific examples of medicines price reductions in BRICS countries. Particular attention was paid to the protection of intellectual property rights in pharmaceutical markets.