It is obvious now that Russian pharmaceutical companies today and in the near future will not be able to satisfy the demand for medicine. For this reason, Russian authorities are creating wide opportunities for the development of local production established by or with the participation of foreign pharmaceutical companies.

The Russian pharmaceutical market has witnessed significant changes in the past couple of years. The landscape is now set to alter again, as the government implements health care reforms, increases its influence over the prescribing of pharmaceuticals and looks to bring in potentially tighter restrictions on promotional activities.

The Russian government’s increasingly vigorous regulation of pharmaceutical pricing has put a squeeze on foreign pharmaceutical companies’ profits from their Russian operations, with adverse tax consequences.

Russian drugmaker Pharmstandard said on Thursday its net profit nearly doubled last year on higher sales of medicines, especially its popular Arbidol flu drug.

Shareholders in Russia's Protek pharmaceutical raised $ 400 million in an initial public offering on local exchanges.