“Domestic manufacturers of veterinary drugs have already shown their capacities during the pandemic by reducing their dependence on foreign supplies by almost 20% in less than 3 years, but having a significant part of their physical resources exhausted. In order to keep raising the pace of import substitution, they need support from the government and improvement of legislation on circulation of medicinal products,” said Tatyana Sevastyanova, deputy executive director of the National Veterinary Association, in her comment to V&L.
According to experts of the association, animal health companies should be considered a separate industry branch, and veterinary drug manufacturers should be recognized as agricultural producers.
This will allow veterinary drug producers to gain access to the existing national support programs as currently they aren’t subject to subsidies provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Besides, representatives of the association propose subsidies for the purchase of animal health products and feed additives to be provided to domestic producers of poultry, cattle, pigs and aquaculture.
In addition, it is proposed to determine the number of responsible companies (regardless of the form of business ownership), which possess necessary technical, scientific and human resources and are capable of dramatically increasing the range and volumes of high-quality, cutting-edge veterinary drug production. To achieve that, the industry needs state support aimed at the domestic development and production of advanced pharmaceutical substances for veterinary medicines, as well as the modernization and building of new production facilities.
According to the association, the share of foreign-made animal health products in the Russian market currently estimates 57%.
Information Note: The National Veterinary Association brings together domestic manufacturers, producing 80% of Russian chemopharmaceuticals and 20% of immunobiological drugs for veterinary use.
