Opinions & Interviews

SKIDEL, 23 November (BelTA) – Ensuring self sufficiency in pharmaceutical supply is an important national security task, Chairman of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich said when visiting an upcoming Belarusian-Indian pharmaceutical company in Skidel, Grodno Oblast, BelTA has learned.

Mikhail Myasnikovich got familiar with the progress in the implementation of the project to set up the Belarusian-Indian pharmacological enterprise OAO Novalok at the premises of Belmedpreparaty company.

“The enterprise will focus primarily on import substitution. Using the unique technologies it will manufacture drugs that are currently quite expensive and are imported into the country from abroad,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. Construction works have been completed, the entire engineering infrastructure has been laid down. Everything is ready for the installation of equipment.

The facility is to be commissioned in the first quarter of the year 2018. Consideration was given to a proposal from the Indian partners on the possible expansion of the capacities of the enterprise and launch the production of substances. “Thus, this will be the enclosed production cycle of a fairly wide range of drugs,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said.

“Self sufficiency in pharmaceutical supply is an important matter of national security. This cannot be achieved overnight. The relevant traditions, personnel, production base are required for this,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted. He emphasized that an increased attention is attached to the development of the pharmaceutical manufacturing in the country.

According to him, the plant in Skidel is one of three investment projects in the field of pharmaceutics implemented in Belarus with participation of the Indian capital. This shows that the two countries are taking the cooperation to a new level. It is important that the projects are innovative, advanced.

“We are planning to produce the drugs for transplant patients, HIV medicines. Earlier such drugs were imported from abroad. We have been working to replace them with the domestically-produced drugs,” said the head of the CIS office of the Indian pharmaceutical company Lok-Beta Pharmaceuticals (I) Pvt. Ltd. The preparations will be sold in the entire Customs Union. It is expected that the prices will be lower as compared with import analogues.

The founders of Belarusian-Indian OAO Novalok are Belmedpreparaty and Lok-Beta Pharmaceuticals (I) Pvt. Ltd.