The Big Pharma manufacturer announced that it was going to stop sending “non-essential” drugs to Russia in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine. At the time, they said that this would include drugs like the erectile dysfunction medication Cialis but reassured patients that their diabetes and cancer drugs would continue to be delivered.
However, they have since tasked a Swiss subsidiary known as Swixx BioPharma with handling their Russian operations, and this company recently informed Russian authorities that it will stop all new deliveries of Humalog. They did not cite any reasons for the move, which is not being well-received by the patients who rely on the drug.
Although the Russian drug monitoring agency Roszdravnadzor insists that it has enough insulin lispro in circulation from domestic suppliers to meet the country’s yearly need, not everyone is convinced that the Russian alternatives make the grade.
For example, Maria Blokhina, who has a child with type 1 diabetes, said it is not that easy to switch to other types of insulin, especially when someone finds one that works well for them.
“Parents are generally afraid to switch their children to other insulins. Besides, Humalog is time-tested, one might say, the standard fast-acting insulin. Almost 30 years of use has played a role in its reputation, as did the Lilly company itself, a pioneer in the production of insulin in the world,” she said.
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She believes that many parents will be willing to buy the American version of the drug at a steep markup on the so-called “gray market” because they feel it is less risky than switching to the Russian versions.
“True, the price of such packaging from Germany will be 15,000 rubles instead of 1,700 rubles we used to pay at the pharmacy. Parents are simply afraid to experiment,” she said.
Russia could benefit from distancing itself from Big Pharma
However, there is a silver lining to this story: Russia will probably be better off in the long run if it does isolate from Big Pharma and its toxic drugs, especially since they already maintain that the three domestic substitutes available can fully meet patients’ needs.
Russian firm Geropharm manufactures one generic substitute, while Pharmsintez-Nord started producing the same type of insulin this year. This will mark a dramatic shift in supply as Eli Lilly’s offering made up nearly all of the insulin that was available on the Russian market as recently as 2019.
A spokesperson for Geropharm said: “The departure of Eli Lilly should not affect Russian patients – the foreign manufacturer systematically reduced the volume of supplies of original drugs to our country, giving preference to other markets, which may be due to both economic considerations and the political position of the manufacturer.”
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly’s website boasts that it has supplied more than 2 million doses of diabetes and cancer products to patients in Ukraine.
By moving away from the major Western pharmaceutical brands, Russia may be able to develop and access more reliable and safer medications. It is no secret that many major pharmaceutical firms engage in price gouging and give doctors kickbacks for prescribing drugs patients may not need. Moreover, they routinely downplay known side effects of their drugs and sometimes manipulate research studies to provide a more favorable outcome.
Although it may be daunting for people to switch to an unfamiliar brand of medication and the reasons that Eli Lilly is cutting off the Russian market may seem unfair to innocent children who depend on these drugs, distancing themselves from Big Pharma could prove to be a net positive in the long run.
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