Russian livestock farmers need a reliable source of veterinary drugs

Recently it has become known that Russian livestock farmers' stocks of imported veterinary drugs will only last for two to three months. This information was confirmed by the executive DIRECTOR of AVFARM, Semyon Zhavoronkov, during the industry business conference “Agroinvestor: PRO livestock and animal feed.”

The reason for this shortage is the introduction of new GMP registration requirements for foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers, which will come into force on September 1, 2023. These requirements led to RUSSIA losing 600 key high-tech veterinary drugs. According to the speaker, industry experts estimate that some livestock farmers will run out of supplies of imported drugs in two to three months, while others will run out before the end of the year.

Despite the fact that veterinary drugs account for only 1-3% of the cost of livestock production, their absence or improper use can lead to serious consequences, including the loss of the entire herd. Therefore, it is important to have access to reliable and effective veterinary drugs.

Replacing high-tech imported drugs requires considerable time. For example, India and CHINA , which are considered countries with developed livestock farming, still import 30-35% of pharmaceutical products for their industry. This suggests that completely replacing imported drugs will take a lot of time and effort.

Semyon Zhavoronkov claims that Russia is provided with domestic pharmaceuticals to combat especially dangerous animal diseases. Also, chemical and pharmaceutical preparations are actively imported into the country and produced by domestic players in the pharmaceutical market. However, the situation with vaccines against economically significant diseases in Russia leaves much to be desired, since up to 90-95% of vaccines are still imported.

At the moment, the market ratio of the main categories of veterinary drugs is as follows: 35% - import of commercial segment vaccines, 28% - import of chemical-pharmaceuticals, 25% - domestic production. This indicates the need to develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry and increase the share of domestic veterinary drugs on the market.

The situation with the shortage of imported veterinary drugs requires immediate attention and action. Russian livestock farmers need to be provided with access to reliable and effective veterinary drugs in order to preserve and develop their farms. This will also create opportunities to develop the domestic pharmaceutical industry and reduce dependence on imports.