Asia - Central

The price of the antiviral drug, Umifenovir, used for coronavirus treatment, has risen four to five times amid the outbreak of Covid in Mongolia, along with the price of medicines and other medical supplies by a quarter compared to previous years.

And with good reason. AbbVie’s cash cow Humira, which has brought in more than $90 billion over the last five years, already faces biosimilar competition in the EU, but will not face such competition in the US until 2023.

Armenia has reached a deal for 1 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency cited Armenian authorities as saying on Wednesday.

Moscow’s jab triggers splits between — and within — governments.

Kazakhstan faces shortages of essential medicines such as aspirin after the Central Asian nation’s government tried to pressure drug makers and distributors into cutting prices.

People over 60 have thus far been excluded from Russia’s national inoculation programme, as the shot was tested on this age group separately.

The safety of Chinese-made vaccines has been thrust into the spotlight again.

More than 200,000 people have already been vaccinated against the disease as part of Russia’s mass inoculation programme, which began in September.

China has approved three vaccine candidates developed by Sinovac and state-owned Sinopharm for emergency use.

In 2019, a new pricing methodology for vital drugs was adopted in Russia, according to which manufacturers must re-register prices for them by the end of this year.

Russia’s health ministry has approved a trial of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 on 110 volunteers over the age of 60.

The vaccine has been developed by Siberia’s Vector Institute, which completed early-stage human trials of the vaccine last month.

Approval is expected by mid-October, as the number of infections grow and Moscow pushes to raise its profile abroad.

The vaccine will be ready for wide distribution late this year or early next, officials say. That's roughly the same schedule as shots from rivals in the U.S., U.K. and China.

The Russian government is revising plans for the purchase of some of the most expensive drugs.