High Drug Prices in Armenia Linked to High Import Costs: Competition Authority

Consumers frequently express dissatisfaction regarding the high prices of medications in Armenia compared to other countries. This information was reported by the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition.

Studies conducted by the Commission on various businesses have shown that the high prices of drugs are due to elevated import costs, as manufacturers often provide the same products to different countries at varying prices.

A possible solution to this issue could be the implementation of a parallel import system, which is currently not operating at full capacity. Consequently, barriers to entry are created for importing drugs at lower costs from both the EAEU area (particularly Russia) and third countries.

The reason behind this is that obtaining permission for parallel imports in Armenia requires the imported and registered drugs to correspond 100% with each other. Meanwhile, international practices allow for parallel imports even when the differences between registered and imported drugs do not affect their safety and efficacy.

As a result, the Commission has developed and proposed a series of amendments to the Law on Drugs of the Republic of Armenia, which are expected to remove the restrictions imposed on parallel imported drugs that do not impact their safety and efficacy.