Rheumatologists warn of lack of drugs for arthritis

Patients with rheumatic diseases in RUSSIA face a shortage of foreign drugs, in particular methotrexate solution, which is included in the list of vital and essential drugs (VED). Polina Pchelnikova, Vice-President of the Russian Rheumatological Association Nadezhda, told Vedomosti about this.

According to Pchelnikova, the Methotrexate-Ebeve injection solution of the Swiss company Sandoz (a division of the Novartis group) disappeared from pharmacies in August. Sandoz is the largest supplier of the drug to Russia. According to RNC Pharma, since the beginning of the year, pharmaceutical companies have supplied 2.2 million packages of the solution, 48% of which are accounted for by the Swiss company.

In Russia, methotrexate is constantly taken by 2–2.5 million people, the association said. As Pchelnikova noted, patients with arthritis should take it for life once a week, and a break in treatment can lead to serious exacerbations.

One of the reasons for the shortage of medicines is the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, since drugs for rheumatic diseases are also used to treat covid-19 . Because of this, in 2020, patients faced a deficiency of azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, hydroxychloroquine and methylprednisolone, Pchelnikova said. Currently, Russia lacks tocilizumab, which is used in the treatment of severe forms of coronavirus infection.