On February 28, the XIV International Eurasian Pharmaceutical Forum started in Almaty. The event is dedicated to discussing the state of the pharmaceutical market in the EAEU and CIS countries and approaches to the formation of regulatory strategies, effective directions for the industry in the current geopolitical conditions.
The forum provides an opportunity to meet with the leading players in the pharmaceutical market — regulators, international and local pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy chains — to voice the current issues facing the industry today and predict further development.
The event was attended by representatives of industry professional organizations, regulators, ministries and departments, as well as the largest international and local manufacturers of pharmaceutical products in Eurasia. A number of more than 50 leading speakers include representatives of BAYER, AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, Stada, Takeda, Pfizer, Novartis, Unipharm and the Single Distributor SK-Pharmacy LLP.
The large-scale meeting began with a strategic discussion of top managers on the practice of adapting Eurasian pharmaceutical markets to the new reality. During the discussion, the following issues were considered: maintaining a balance during the transformation period, new business models and formats of work introduced by pharmaceutical companies in the current conditions, the formation of effective international cooperation between pharmaceutical manufacturers and the impact of regulatory changes last year on the activities of pharmaceutical companies.
Erkhat Iskaliyev, Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacy LLP, acted as a speaker at the strategic discussion of top managers. The Chairman of the Board dwelled on the structure of the global pharmaceutical market, noting that the global pharmaceutical market is showing positive dynamics with an annual growth rate of 19% and, according to forecasts, by 2026 its volume will reach more than 3 trillion US dollars.
During the presentation, Erkhat Serikovich also focused on the pharmaceutical industry of Kazakhstan and domestic pharmaceutical brands. The Kazakh pharmaceutical industry, thanks to effective government support measures, has a huge potential for profitable investments, and in 2021 the industry showed a positive trend in all key indicators.
In Kazakhstan, there is a clear and transparent hierarchy of processes in the field of circulation of medicines, from the moment of registration of drugs to the issuance to the patient. A very important element of this hierarchy is the examination of medicines and medical devices for their quality, safety and efficacy.
Turning to the issues of drug supply directly, the drug supply system was not left without attention. Every year, the Single Distributor provides more than 5 million Kazakhstanis with free medicines.
Before the participants, the methods of procurement by the Single Distributor were presented. At the moment there are four of them, this is a two-stage tender, long-term contracts, direct contracts and international organizations. Procurement methods through the single distribution system are strictly regulated and transparent.
The role of the Single Distributor in the share of purchases from the total Kazakhstani market is about 60%. At the end of 2022, medicines worth $774.5 million were purchased as part of the drug supply. According to the presented statistics, it was possible to get acquainted with the dynamics of purchases over the past 12 years. The volume of purchases in monetary terms increased 11 times, and the number of purchased items increased from 804 to 1719. The total savings of budget funds amounted to 192.6 billion tenge.
In addition, the participants were introduced to the mechanisms of contract manufacturing and work with a number of BigPharma companies on projects for the production of innovative drugs with the possibility of export to the countries of the EAEU and Central Asia. To date, the Ministry has already signed framework cooperation agreements with such global pharmaceutical companies as F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca.
Work is underway to sign an agreement on cooperation and readiness for localization with Bayer AG and Takeda Pharmaceutical. And between Pfizer and KazakhInvest an agreement was signed on the localization of vaccine production in Kazakhstan.
At the end of his report, the Chairman of the Board called on those present to take part in the upcoming international pharmaceutical forums in 2023, which have already become traditional for the Single Distributor.
Representatives of the leading companies Bayer, STADA, Johnson&Johnson, AstraZeneca and AIPM Russia also spoke at the strategic discussion of top managers of the XIV Eurasian Pharmaceutical Forum. In general, in addition to the strategic discussion, the forum consisted of plenary discussions, an analytical session, practical focus sessions and thematic round tables.
At one of these focus sessions, which touched upon the investment attractiveness of local markets and measures of state support for preferences, another representative of the Single Distributor Aigul Syzdykova acts as a speaker. The topics she covers in detail are the contract manufacturing model, measures to support domestic producers, localization of production of global pharmaceutical brands and cooperation with global vendors.
Various topical issues of the pharmaceutical market were considered at the large platform: the main changes in the regulation of pharmaceutical activities of the single market, registration and examination of medicines, price regulation, access to the market of innovative drugs, an overview of pharmaceutical markets, trends and development prospects, conducting clinical trials in the EAEU and the CIS , localization opportunities, development of the distribution and pharmacy segment, as well as a system for labeling and traceability of medicines.
All speakers and participants of the international forum expressed confidence that the platform would contribute to solving a variety of tasks facing the pharmaceutical industry, attracting foreign investment, introducing best practices in the development of pharmaceutical production and adopting the experience of neighboring countries.
The organizers of the forum - Adam Smith Conferences - prepared a series of expert interviews with speakers on the eve of the conference. You can find an interview with the Chairman of the Board of SK-Pharmacy LLP Erkhat Iskaliev here.
Within the framework of the XIV Eurasian Pharmaceutical Forum, the Single Distributor also discussed the possibilities of cooperation with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharm, the international group of pharmaceutical companies STADA and the company providing services in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical fields and corporate outsourcing IQVIA.
The single distributor noted the great potential for economic cooperation between countries on the exchange of experience in the centralized procurement of medical equipment, medical information systems, and voiced the possibility of increasing bilateral cooperation.
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