In Russia, they stopped selling the antitumor drug Ixempra, intended for the treatment of breast cancer. writes “Kommersant”. In 2022–2023, only 2.7 thousand packages of medicine were supplied to the country, compared to 24 thousand in 2021. It is no longer available in pharmacies, as follows from data from the AptekaMos help desk and the services Megapteka, Uteka, Apteka.ru.
Ixempra is sold by the American subsidiary of the Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharma – R-Pharm US. The drug is produced in Germany at Baxter facilities. The shortage arose due to its rise in price.
According to Headway Company, in 2023, 78% of Ixempru auctions did not take place in Russia. In the third and fourth quarters, 98% and 94% of trades failed. In total, government customers purchased the drug for 61.1 million rubles. In 2022, this amount was 4.2 times higher – 269.3 million rubles, and in 2021 it was equal to 318 million rubles.
The Ministry of Health confirmed the shortage of Ixempra, linking this to pricing. R-Pharma explained that the production of the drug has become more expensive due to an increase in the cost of raw materials due to a change in supplier. However, in accordance with Russian laws, the company cannot increase the maximum price on its own, so purchases have almost stopped. There is no shortage in other countries where Ixempra is also supplied, R-Pharma added.
The company asked to revise the maximum price for the drug. If the Federal Antimonopoly Service meets it halfway, Ikzempra may return to Russia in 2024. Now one package of the drug costs up to 55.1 thousand rubles; it is unknown how much they plan to increase the price.
The active ingredient in Ixempra is ixabepilone. The drug is used to treat locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. It has no analogues in Russia.
“Ikzempra” is one of the 15 best drugs intended to combat this cancer, notes Evgeny Ledin, chief specialist in the profile of drug antitumor therapy at Medsi Group. According to him, the disappearance of this medicine “will be noticeable” and will reduce treatment options for patients.
According to the Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Center, every year in the country diagnose Breast cancer in 70 thousand women. In total, more than 750 thousand Russian women are registered.
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2024-01-17 18:05:00
