Duma to consider lawbill on pharmaceuticals.

MOSCOW, January 29 (Itar-Tass) -- The State Duma will consider under
the first reading on Friday a lawbill on pharmaceuticals that is to
provide equal conditions for domestic producers, regulate prices on basic
medicines, and fight counterfeit pills.

Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova said the
lawbill fixes every stage of pharmaceuticals circulation in detail and
introduces for the first time the maximum 210-day registration term for
medicinal preparations.
It also simplifies imports of unregistered medicines for individual
patients. "That will provide timely treatment for many sick children who
need pharmaceuticals unregistered in Russia, but which offer the only
chance of survival," said State Duma health committee chairwoman Olga
Borzova.
The lawbill also introduces state regulation of prices on basic
medicines in order to prevent hikes that occurred during the latest flu
epidemic. Top limits of wholesale and retail price margins will be fixed
by Russian regions according to a unified scheme.
Golikova said the lawbill will establish equal conditions for domestic
and foreign producers, as Russian companies are actually discriminated at
present. It is proposed to change the registration procedure for foreign
pharmaceuticals, which will have to pass clinical tests in Russia.
But Russian companies will have to switch to Good Manufacturing
Practices and Golikova said the deadline is proposed for 2012. She warned
measures shall be taken to prevent price hikes. "Taking into account low
purchasing power of our population any leaps would be undesirable," she
said.
State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said the lawbill has to bar
counterfeit medicines and proposed to make producers introduce a system
that would allow consumers to check the authenticity themselves. It may
include obligatory marking and free testing procedures in drugstores.