Innovative activity in the production of healthcare goods: trends, problems, prospects

In the context of import substitution policy, the formation of an innovative environment in the production and sale of healthcare goods and services is one of the key problems. Based on official statistics data, the authors reveal the main trends and problems of the innovative development in the branches of Russia's healthcare concerning the production of medical products and pharmaceuticals. The research identifies that from the perspective of organizations costs for technological innovations the production of pharmaceuticals is more expensive than the production of medical products. That can be explained by the same difference in production volumes. The authors recommended the following measures to develop the domestic manufacture of medical products: identification of the basic medical products required in clinical practice; support for the development of technical specifications for medical products; transparency and harmonization of laws and regulations with international standards; promotion of commercializing the scientific research results in the development of medical products; cooperation of the concerned parties (i.e. the scientific community, public authorities, businesses) for the successful innovative development; support for professional networks to disseminate information on Russian innovative medical products. The scientific finding of this study is a general scheme for decision making in regulating healthcare production infrastructure in conjunction with import substitution policy, acquisition of new technologies, as well as creation and diffusion of innovations.