The Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Russian patients are cut off from global pharmaceutical innovations due to the aggressive policies of the Kremlin.
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading international companies have halted multicenter clinical trials in Russia. The number of such studies in the country has decreased by 20 times - from 376 in 2021 to only 18 in 2024. This concerns medications for the treatment of HIV, oncology diseases, and other innovative equivalents of already existing drugs.
'Although medications are not subject to sanctions, launching a new drug on the Russian market without local trials is impossible. Moscow requires the participation of its own doctors and patients in the trials to recognize the results of international studies. Previously, this allowed Russians to access innovations 3-4 years earlier,' the Ukrainian Intelligence Service noted.
Delays in global research are already having consequences: a hepatitis C drug - sofosbuvir, which was approved in the USA in 2013, became available in Russia only in 2017, even though it had nearly a hundred percent effectiveness, specialists emphasized.
The message from the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service indicates that the aggressive policies of the Kremlin have a serious impact on Russian patients, hindering their access to modern medical developments and innovations. Delays in conducting clinical trials and introducing new drugs to the market could lead to extended timelines for access to necessary medical supplies for Russian patients.