Deputy Minister of Healthcare Zhandos Burkitbayev reported on the development of the pharmaceutical industry in the country at the Government session. The department has set a task to bring the share of domestically produced drugs to 50% of the domestic market by 2029. 

At the end of 2023, the volume of the pharmaceutical market was 949.8 billion tenge, of which domestic production was 144.3 billion tenge, including 7.9 billion tenge of exported products, the share of domestic production in the domestic market was 14.4%.

"Among them in the procurement system of the Single Distributor, the turnover of pharmaceutical products was 436.9 billion tenge, of which domestic production - 137.5 billion tenge, which accounted for 31.5%. One of the effective state measures to support domestic producers is the conclusion of long-term contracts. There are 35 such contracts," the speaker said.

There are 193 domestic manufacturers in Kazakhstan, of which the TOP-10 are defined for medicines, medical devices and medical equipment. They account for the largest share in domestic production. In accordance with the Prime Minister's instruction on the development of domestic production, the possibility of their additional load is being considered, taking into account the existing potential of production facilities. 

One of the important components of the pharmaceutical industry development is investment activity. Within the framework of the Investment Headquarters, work with foreign investors on localisation in Kazakhstan of 29 new projects for the production of medicines and medical devices is underway at various stages. 

Long-term agreements have been signed with such companies as Roche, Pfizer, and an investment project with AstraZeneca is being developed. Intentions agreements have also been signed between the Ministry and the company Philips; GE NealtechCare.

"Analysis of the pharmaceutical market shows that out of the total sales of pharmaceutical products, the share of self-purchase by medical organisations and the retail segment is 512.9 billion tenge, or 54%, which is currently, in our opinion, insufficiently developed (tenders by medical organisations are conducted on paper) and is a potential market for the sale of domestic products. Digitisation of the process of public procurement in the regions, carried out by medical organisations will allow to increase the share of domestic production up to 20% in 2024-2025," Deputy Minister of Health reported. 

In this regard, the adoption of the following operational measures will give impetus to the dynamic development of domestic production:

• E-Finance Centre of the Ministry of Finance needs to accelerate the completion of digitalisation of procurement procedures to ensure independent procurement of medicines and medical devices in digital format;
• in order to increase the share of domestic products purchased by medical organisations, it is necessary to assign an indicator for priority purchase of domestic pharmaceutical products to akimats in regional development plans;
• bringing National Registration dossiers in compliance with the requirements of the EAEU rules, to ensure promotion of pharmaceutical products of domestic manufacturers in the EAEU countries.

"In order to further form a strategy for the development of the pharmaceutical industry and in pursuance of the Head of State's instruction to increase the share of domestically produced drugs in the domestic market to 50% by 2029, an Interdepartmental Commission has been established and is functioning with the participation of relevant government agencies, NPP “Atameken”, non-governmental organisations, businesses and industry associations. The above measures will ensure the quality and availability of medicines to the population, as well as the systematic development of domestic production," Zhandos Burkitbayev summarised.

#Government session #Manufacturing industry #Pharmaceuticals