Ukrainian patent law deprives patients of affordable medicines - Svitlana Didenko, the Member of the Supervisory Council of Pharmaceutical firm Darnitsa

Legislative regulation over production of original medicaments’ authorized copies – also called generics – prevents Ukrainian market from receiving affordable and effective medicines, told the Member of the Supervisory Council of PrJSC “Pharmaceutical firm Darnitsa” Svitlana Didenko in an interview with apteka.ua.

“The question of prohibition of researching and registration of generics until the expiration of patent for the original drug remains unsolved. At the same time, such a practice is widely applied in the world by generic companies. It allows to accelerate a market entry for generics and, hence, it allows patients to receive high quality and affordable medic substances,” – said the expert.

Generics are cheaper than original drugs and they comprise the majority of drugs used in Ukraine, remarked Didenko. There are still some important discrepancies between Ukrainian and EU Law on this subject though in general legislative base is already harmonized with the EU, she added.

"This is the reason why market players are expecting changes in the Ukrainian legislation soon. Before that Ukrainian drug producers have not a chance of fair competition with European generic companies, and as a result Ukrainian people have limited access to effective and procurable medicines," – she stated.

In 2018, Mind.ua reported than patents for a number of drugs with billion-dollar volume of sales are due to expired soon. That would open an opportunity for Ukrainian enterprises to produce generics.

PrJSC “Pharmaceutical firm Darnitsa” operates since 1930, produces approximately 250 ready-to-use pharmaceutical products. Glib Zagoriy, the member of Ukrainian Parliament, is one of the company’s co-owners.