Medicine market in Russia ‘stable’ as GSK commits to keeping up supply
GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) will halt clinical trials in Russia but maintain the supply of essential medicines, following the Kremlin-backed invasion of Ukraine.
The London-headquartered group has no manufacturing operations in Russia or Ukraine, while its supply chain and raw material access will be minimally impacted, according to Reuters.
GSK follows Pfizer, who has pledged all its Russian profits to Ukraine on Tuesday, as well as Merck and Co and Eli Lilly in dialling back their operations in Russia.
Pfizer added that halting the delivery of medicines, such as cancer therapies, would cause “significant patient suffering and potential loss of life, particularly among children and elderly people.”
As a growing tally of businesses pull out of the country, healthcare companies have maintained a ‘patient first’ perspective in continuing the supply of medicines to Russians.
Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko confirmed in a teleconference this morning that the country’s drug market is “stable”, according to the Russian Interfax Agency (RIA).
“The volume of production and supply of drugs and pharmaceutical substances, including those imported, is much bigger this year that it was last year,” added Murashko.