Russian pharmaceutical market: results of two years in pandemic conditions

COVID-19 has become a test of strength for the domestic healthcare system and the pharmaceutical industry, which are of strategic importance in ensuring national security. One of the most difficult problems of the domestic pharmaceutical market is its high import dependence. Positive shifts in this direction were achieved due to the localization of imported production in the country. However, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent shortage of medicines on the market due to increased demand showed that domestic pharmaceutical production is untenable in the face of epidemiological challenges, largely due to continued dependence on import supplies. The study evaluates the functioning of the Russian pharmaceutical market in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in comparison with the pre-crisis period, identifies the current trends and their causes. It has been established that under the influence of the coronavirus pandemic, the domestic pharmaceutical market has maintained an upward trend in its value. At the same time, the total number of drug packages sold on the market is steadily declining, which is associated with a change in the volume and structure of demand in the pharmaceutical market. Therefore, we can conclude that in the context of a pandemic and a decrease in the income of the population, there was a forced reduction in the consumption of pharmaceutical products. At the same time, the multiple growth in demand for certain types of medicines, which are most applicable in the fight against coronavirus infection, has become a factor in a significant increase in prices, as a result of which the value of sales continues to grow, despite the reduction in consumption.