According to a press release of Russia's Federal Healthcare and Welfare Control Service, the possibility was discussed at a meeting Wednesday between the Service's head, Ramil Khabriyev, and visiting health officials from the U.S.
The American delegation included Mark Dybul, Assistant U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and Phillip Budashewitz, Director of the Office for Europe and the NIS at the Office of Global Health Affairs, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The provision of HIV/AIDS patients with anti-retroviral drugs and the prevention of AIDS pandemic in Russia were high on the meeting's agenda.
According to Khabriyev, a series of medical trials have been conducted in Russia and all major HIV/AIDS drugs approved. Fifty-four drugs (36 foreign-made and 18 Russian-made) have been registered; 33 other drugs (27 and 6, respectively) are being tested.
Officials at the Federal Healthcare Control Service are hopeful that foreign pharmaceutical companies will realize the need for anti-retroviral drugs to become more affordable to patients in Russia and will offer discounts regardless of the amounts ordered. Thus, the procedure of compulsory licensing could be avoided, the press release says.
During today's meeting, the sides also examined the possibility of outsourcing the production of original retroviral drugs to facilities in Russia and whether these facilities meet international medical standards known as GMP.
According to the Healthcare Control Service, about 600 companies across Russia are licensed to produce pharmaceuticals, with 100 of these having production units that are up to the GMP standards.
