What Changes Will Occur in the Pharmaceutical Market

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia has introduced a new draft law. According to this draft, the restriction on the participation of state purchases of drugs that are not registered in Armenia will be lifted. The issue is that state purchases of unregistered drugs are currently restricted by other governmental agencies, as this authority is exclusively granted to the Ministry of Health, reports ArmLur.am.

It should be noted that the validity periods of the drugs procured are strictly defined by the current regulations; however, the majority of the drugs acquired are imported from foreign manufacturers, and the ordered quantities are quite small. As a result, foreign manufacturers are reluctant to produce drugs with the specified validity periods and supply the drugs based on stored or produced quantities for other countries. Moreover, the current regulations limit the participation of several foreign manufacturers based on their production quantities.

According to experts, the adoption of this draft will stimulate the state registration of drugs in Armenia, which will lead to the registration of drugs from various manufacturers. Consequently, alongside participation in state purchases, competition is expected to increase, potentially resulting in lower prices for drugs purchased by governmental agencies. It should be emphasized that drugs are acquired not only by the Ministry of Health but also by the Ministries of Emergency Situations and Defense, as well as the Police of Armenia.