OAO Protek, the Russian drug company that raised $400 million in an intitial public offering last month, plans to spend half of that money on acquisitions, including to expand its Rigla chain of stores.

The Federal Service on Surveillance in Healthcare and Social Development of the Russian Federation (alias RosZdravNadzor, RZN) approved 134 new clinical trials of all types including local and bioequivalence studies during the first quarter of 2010 demonstrating an 18% increase over the corresponding period of last year.

In 2009, the Russian market for medical equipment and supplies was estimated at US$3,323 million. Per capita spending is very low at US$23 per capita. It is expected that the device market will continue to expand at a rate of 5.4% per annum, reaching US$4,319 million by 2014, or US$31 per capita.

It is necessary to considerably reduce Belarus’ dependence on pharmaceutical imports and increase the exports of Belarusian medicines, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said at the government session held on 14 May to discuss the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has given some added thrust to Russia's drive to become a major high-tech drugs manufacturing centre with a deal to build a state-of-the-art insulin production facility in the western Russian region of Kaluga.