Ukrainian drug manufacturers, together with other participants in the pharmaceutical market, have signed a declaration to reduce drug prices by 20%. This is reported by UNN with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Health.
During the NSDC meeting on February 12, Health Minister Viktor Liashko stated that "it was not possible to ensure acceptable drug prices at this time". He pointed out that the prices of the most popular drugs of Ukrainian production have increased from 70 to 110%.
"High marketing payments received by pharmacies for the sale of specific drugs also play a significant role. This leads to the fact that Ukrainians often buy a more expensive drug when there is a cheaper analogue with the same active ingredient on the market, but the pharmacy is not interested in its sale. We have held many consultations with all market participants and state institutions and have jointly developed and agreed on a set of measures that will change the situation," said Viktor Liashko.
It is reported that Ukrainian manufacturers have declared a 30% reduction in ex-factory prices for the 100 most popular drugs from March 1.
As for the rest of the drugs, Ukrainian manufacturers, together with other participants in the pharmaceutical market, have signed a declaration to reduce drug prices to the end consumer by 20%, the Ministry of Health said.
In addition, the government is launching a number of regulations to ensure transparent pricing and proper competition, namely:
regulation of the determination of markups on all medicines, not only those included in the national list, is being established;
any marketing services for the promotion of medicines are prohibited until reference pricing is launched for all medicines sold in the country and clear rules for this process are established;
the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection resumes inspections to control prices in pharmacy chains.
The Ministry of Health also noted that control over the availability of medicines in hospitals will be strengthened. This refers to medicines whose availability is provided for by treatment standards and paid for by the state under the medical guarantee program.
Recall
Last week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that a decision needs to be made to reduce drug prices. The pharmacy business supported the President's statement.
The Public Union "Pharmacy Professional Association of Ukraine" has sent to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine a Declaration of Cooperation on Reducing the Cost of Medicines, which has already been signed by a number of large pharmacy chains.
It outlines the following obligations of all market participants:
• National drug manufacturers are reducing ex-factory prices for their products by a certain percentage compared to prices as of January 1, 2025.
• Distributors are proportionally reducing wholesale prices, which will affect the entire logistics network.
• Pharmacies, for their part, are reducing retail prices for medicines, ensuring a real reduction in the cost of drugs for the end consumer, i.e. applying a proportional discount to the manufacturer's markup.
On February 10, Zelenskyy stated that drug prices in Ukraine are absolutely inadequate, and a meeting of the NSDC is being prepared to reduce prices. On February 12, following the NSDC meeting, Zelenskyy reported that there is a way to reduce the price of the top 100 medical products by 30% from March 1 - on the most important drugs for Ukrainians.
On February 13, the President signed a decree that gives force to the NSDC's decision on reducing by 30% from March 1 the prices of the main and most in-demand drugs in Ukraine.
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