Comparing drug prices: how affordable generics are displacing branded drugs

Today, Ukrainian patients have a wide choice of medicines and real access to cheaper analogues in each category. This is the result of both competition between manufacturers and new state requirements. After all, pharmacies are obliged to have at least one of the three cheapest analogues of a drug in stock, and together with the change in consumer sentiment of Ukrainians, who are increasingly saving money, this has led to a change in the landscape of demand. And one of the first to be hit by this was one of the oldest pharmaceutical manufacturers – the Darnitsa company.

Demand creates supply, and now Ukrainians have changed their consumption style: instead of buying a “brand out of habit,” they are increasingly looking for a rational alternative “by price.” This allows them not to give up necessary treatment, but at the same time to save money.

The trend towards saving is recorded by a survey by Gradus Research in 2024. Thus, according to the research data, more than half of the respondents (65%) more often chose cheaper goods. It is obvious that for the population in the realities of war and inflation, price has become a decisive criterion.

Political scientist Vitaliy Kulyk also confirms this trend. He notes that the Ukrainian consumer today is guided by the principle of rational consumption. And if earlier the brand mattered when choosing goods, now the advantage is with whoever offers the most favorable price. And this applies even to such a sensitive area as medicine.

If earlier a brand was considered a kind of guarantee of quality, now more and more Ukrainians understand: often it is just a marketing tool. That is why cheaper analogues, which are not inferior in quality, are confidently displacing more expensive ones

Ukrainian manufacturers have already begun to feel the results of new consumer habits. As noted by representatives of the Darnitsa pharmaceutical plant, sales of the brand’s medicines have recently fallen, warehouses are 95% full, and the company, due to reduced sales volumes, even had to cut staff.

CEO of the Podorozhnyk pharmacy chain Taras Kolyada believes that the drop in Darnitsa’s sales is due to the manufacturer’s inflated prices for its products.

Most of the drugs produced by Darnitsa have analogues in a much cheaper segment. If you compare the most popular drugs from Darnitsa’s portfolio, the same Citramon, Ranitidine or Captopress with analogues from other manufacturers, you will see a difference of 10, 20, 40 and more hryvnias. And no matter how much the pharmacy markup is demonized, 72% of the cost of medicines is formed by the manufacturer, and Darnitsa does not hide that over the past two years it has increased prices for its products by 120%

Indeed, a comparison of prices for medicines produced by Darnitsa and other domestic manufacturers shows that Ukrainians have a significant choice of analogues with more democratic prices. This increases the population’s access to medicines and allows them to save money. And every 15-20 UAH, and sometimes even 40 UAH, saved on each drug, ultimately turns into tangible amounts in the final check at the pharmacy. Especially for families who are forced to regularly buy several names of medicines at once.

According to the website Tabletky.ua, the popular “Paracetamol” from the manufacturer “Darnitsa” costs 30.60 UAH, and an analogue from “Arterium” can be purchased for 19.05 UAH. “Ibuprofen” produced by “Darnitsa” costs 70.30 UAH, and “Lekhim” offers the drug for 61.17 UAH. In the market of headache remedies, the once most recognizable “Citramon-Darnitsa” is sold for 27 UAH, while its cheapest analogue is bought for 11.30 UAH – a direct saving of 15 hryvnias. And one of the most popular sedatives “Validol” from “Farmak” costs 12.50 UAH, and the drug from “Darnitsa” – 14.80 UAH. The popular “Ambroxol” produced by Darnitsa costs 24.82 UAH, and the Borschahivsky analogue costs 18.95 UAH. The difference becomes even more striking in the example of drugs used for colds: “Septefril” from the Borschahivsky plant is sold for 44.48 UAH, which is almost twice cheaper than its analogue from “Darnitsa” for 87.41 UAH.

Thus, the perception of a brand “only as a marketing tool” has led to cheaper analogues, which are not inferior in quality, confidently displacing more expensive offers, which is especially noticeable in the example of domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Price comparison shows that where there are several interchangeable Ukrainian drugs, cheaper analogues systematically win in sales. And regulatory requirements and the modern habit of patients to check prices through online drug ordering aggregators reinforce this trend.

For manufacturers, this means a simple choice: adapting pricing policies and launching more affordable product lines, or losing market share to more flexible competitors with lower prices. The Ukrainian consumer ultimately gets a wider choice and a lower price while maintaining therapeutic equivalence.