New regulation of the pharmaceutical market in Ukraine may deprive cancer patients of access to quality medicines - patient organization

Access to imported medicines, in particular oncology drugs, may be significantly reduced in Ukraine due to the new regulation of the pharmaceutical market. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by Vice President of the NGO "Athena. Women Against Cancer", Victoria Romaniuk, vice president of the NGO.

With the help of donors, we tried to provide some patients with gemcitabine from European manufacturers. Now it is not available at all. And patients are just panicking and asking us where to get it, as it is not available in hospitals or pharmacies. Of course, this hasn't been a "price reduction" yet, but for oncology drugs, I think it will push manufacturers with such an average price offer to leave the Ukrainian market even more,

According to her, a number of international pharmaceutical companies have already stopped supplying oncology drugs to Ukraine or significantly limited their supply. The reason for this is the situation with public procurement, where Indian manufacturers win, as they do not have the approval of regulators in countries with a strict control system, such as the EMA and FDA. This makes it unreasonable for European generic manufacturers to enter the Ukrainian market.

In particular, according to Victoria Romaniuk, most cancer centers in Ukraine are currently completely out of stock of a critical drug, Gemcitabine. Patients cannot find it either in hospitals or pharmacies. A similar situation was observed last year, when the State Service of Ukraine on Medicines and Drugs withdrew Gemcitabine and a number of other vital drugs from medical institutions, leaving patients without treatment.

According to her, although the state purchases chemotherapy drugs, there are periodic "holes" in procurement. The situation is even worse with targeted therapies and immunotherapies - they are practically not covered by the state budget, and patients are forced to either buy them on their own or seek treatment abroad.

Viktoriya Romaniuk also noted that the economic situation in the country makes it difficult to access treatment, especially expensive treatment, as the purchasing power of the population has significantly decreased.

Therefore, there is only one way out: patients can go abroad and be treated there for free, having received the status of temporary protection. But we already see that not everywhere our Ukrainians who are fleeing the war are accepted. And it is very difficult. People either have to leave their families, sometimes they leave their children behind because they have to go for treatment. Other people who cannot travel and do not have the means to buy these medicines simply die. And, again, there is no price reduction yet,

The situation on the pharmaceutical market threatens to further reduce the supply of quality drugs. "I'm very worried that if many manufacturers leave Ukraine, it will be very bad," Romaniuk added.

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Inna Ivanenko, Executive Director of the CF "Patients of Ukraine", said in an interview with UNN that the new state regulation of the pharmaceutical market may create bureaucratic obstacles for manufacturers and complicate patients' access to medicines. The restrictions could lead to supply disruptions, shortages, and price increases.