Russia's Health Ministry removes 23 medicinal products from registration

Russia's Health Ministry has cancelled registration certificates for 23 medicinal products, meaning they can no longer be manufactured, imported, or sold in the country. The drugs will disappear from pharmacies gradually as existing warehouse stocks are depleted. The affected list spans both high-cost imported treatments for complex conditions and basic domestic products. Among the withdrawn brands are Kaletra for HIV, Remicade for arthritis and Crohn's disease, Sprycel and Temodal for oncology, and Cosmofer for anemia, alongside valerian with wormwood tincture, Gevkamen ointment, and vaseline oil from various manufacturers. The ministry cited two drivers for the cleanup. Pharmaceutical companies often find it uneconomical to maintain licensing fees and re-registration for brands that have lost profitability due to newer therapies or cheaper generics. Simultaneously, regulators are removing redundant duplicates when a single active ingredient is already represented by multiple safe alternatives.