Pharmaceutical inflation and government miscalculation: marketing was banned, but drug prices did not decrease

The cost of medicines has not decreased after the introduction of the ban on marketing agreements between pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and in some cases has even increased. This is recognized not only by market representatives, but also by officials of the Ministry of Health, UNN writes. 

Yes, the Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko noted that inflation in the pharmaceutical market reached 13.9% in April. This indicates an increase in prices, not a decrease. The lack of results of the marketing ban was also noted by the Deputy Minister of Health Edem Adamov during a meeting in the Office of the President. 

Moreover, as the market analysis shows, popular drugs for the treatment of chronic diseases, in particular hypertension or diabetes, have increased in price by 10–40 hryvnias. And some even by more than 100 hryvnias. As a result, patients who buy medicines regularly are forced to spend more, despite the state’s promises to make medicines more accessible.

At the same time, a study by Proxima Research notes that 71.8% of the cost of medicines is formed by the manufacturer, pharmacies – 22.3%, and the distributor – 5.9%, reported earlier by UNN. Despite this, state regulation continues to focus on controlling pharmacies, and not manufacturers, who determine the initial cost of medicines. 

So, according to the Ministry of Health and independent research, the ban on marketing agreements not only did not reduce the cost of medicines for Ukrainians, but also created the preconditions for price increases. 

The ineffectiveness of the ban on marketing services was also noticed by the CF “Patients of Ukraine”. Thus, according to Inna Ivanenko, executive director of the charitable foundation, patients have not yet felt an improvement in the cost or availability of medicines. She also added that manual regulation of drug prices is not a solution. After all, instead of point actions, a systemic change in the approach to market regulation is needed. 

AddNow the Government is reviewing its decision. The Ministry of Health has already submitted a new draft resolution for discussion, which provides for the return of marketing services within 20% of sales. However, the real figure that pharmacies will receive will not exceed 3.5%, which is unlikely to allow them to restore discount programs for patients, social programs or cover logistics costs.

Let us remindFrom March 1, 2025, for more than three months, Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 168, which introduced restrictions on markups on medicines and a ban on marketing agreements, has been in effect in Ukraine. So far, the resolution has not yielded real results, and Ukrainians have not felt a decrease in drug prices.