Mandatory labeling for 7 nosologies may be introduced in 2018

In 2020, the labeling of medicinal products will become mandatory for all manufacturers. But, for some drugs, including the expensive medicines, it may happen as early as in 2018. This was announced by Mikhail Murashko, the Head of Roszdravnadzor.

“First of all, it will apply to drugs for seven high-cost nosologies and some expensive medicines. This will include the cases where the targeting is important,” he said. Mr. Murashko added that, currently, the Russian government is preparing a corresponding decree.

The labeling of drugs is implemented as part of the priority government project. Initially, it was planned that all medicinal products being sold within the Russian Federation should be labeled by December 31, 2018. However, later, the period for implementation of mandatory drug labeling was extended to 2020.

In the Russian Federation, the pilot project for labeling of medicinal products was launched in 2017. Currently, more than a thousand of participants are connected to the labeling system. The main goal of priority project is to protect the population against falsified, substandard and counterfeit medicinal products and allow the general public to check the legality of registered medicines.