Rostec will create a single center of enterprises for the production of new medical equipment in the country
Mass production of medical equipment will begin in Russia, including equipment for ultrasound, resuscitation, anesthesia, and emergency care. Rostec is forming a single center for the creation, promotion and service of such products — it will coordinate the work of about 30 enterprises. The state corporation reported that the capacity of the domestic market of medical products is estimated at 600 billion rubles a year. At the same time, at least 70% today is accounted for by suppliers from unfriendly countries.
Put on stream
Rostec State Corporation, against the background of sanctions, intends to quadruple its share in the medical equipment market. To do this, it will form a single center for the creation, promotion and service of such products, which will coordinate the work of about 30 enterprises. The new product line will include diagnostic devices, including equipment for ultrasound, gynecology, resuscitation, anesthesia, emergency care and much more, a source close to Rostec told Izvestia.
— The goal is to increase the company's share in the presence segments and enter the list of leaders among suppliers of products for diagnostics, surgery, resuscitation, ophthalmology, dentistry and other areas of medicine. The relevant corporate procedures have already started, — the interlocutor of Izvestia explained.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn
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According to him, now the total share of the state corporation in those product segments where Rostec is present does not exceed 5%. But there is a task to increase it to about 20% by 2030.
— Currently, four holding companies and about 30 factories are working on the creation of medical devices as part of Rostec. They conduct an independent policy and often even compete with each other. Now a corporate center has been created that will professionally coordinate the processes," the source said.
In the future, we can talk about the release of a large line of products under a single brand owned by Rostec, the interlocutor of the publication noted.
The state corporation confirmed the existence of these plans to Izvestia.
— There is a corresponding decision of the board of the corporation. The Rostec circuit has identified a company that will oversee the development of medical instrumentation — RT-Medical Technologies. Sergey Dmitrochenko, who previously held the position of Deputy General Director of Shvabe for the promotion of civilian products, has been appointed its CEO," the company's representative said.
Sanctions and problems with supplies from abroad today create prerequisites for an increase in demand for domestic products, Rostec noted. They added that for a Russian manufacturer, this is a chance to occupy niches where foreign suppliers have dominated for decades.
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— For many years, imports have been moving to our market quite aggressively, often leaving no chance for domestic brands. There were large foreign financial and organizational resources behind this. Even in public procurement, which was conducted for budgetary funds, foreign samples prevailed. Today the situation is changing, the share of imports in purchases, according to various estimates, has decreased, but still remains high," the state corporation noted.
The risks of stopping the supply of medical equipment and components for localized production from abroad were described there as "higher than ever." Therefore, ensuring technological sovereignty in this area is the number one task.
According to experts of the state corporation, the capacity of the domestic market of medical products is estimated at 600 billion rubles a year. At the same time, at least 70% today is accounted for by suppliers from unfriendly countries.
In June 2022, Deputy director of the Department of Regulation of the circulation of medicines and medical products of the department Aisylu Kamaletdinova, speaking in the State Duma at a meeting of the expert council for the development of the medical industry, said that more than 1.5 thousand medical products from the most popular in the healthcare system are not manufactured in Russia or friendly states. At the same time, according to her, there is an opportunity to establish own production for 698 necessary goods. In particular, we are talking about artificial lung ventilation devices, stents, endoprostheses, as well as diagnostic products, she noted.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn
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Lower the price
The Ministry of Health told Izvestia that they welcome plans to expand the nomenclature and increase the volume of supplies of competitive medical equipment of domestic production.
— Russian developers and manufacturers have great potential in this area. Increased competition in the market allows not only to provide the industry with the necessary equipment, but also leads to lower prices, and, accordingly, the costs of the state," the ministry said.
At the same time, the Ministry refrained from assessing the scale of the volume of foreign equipment in the Russian healthcare system.
This volume can reach 85%, said Stanislav Goldberg, a member of the public council at Roszdravnadzor, vice-president of the non-profit partnership "Opora" and vice—president of the Moscow Association of Small Manufacturers of medical equipment "Asmedika". According to him, it is necessary to solve this problem.
— The very idea of finally getting involved in the Russian medical industry is correct, and how much it will work out is a matter of proper financing, - the expert said.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn
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According to him, Russia found itself in the current situation due to the destruction of the medical industry after the collapse of the USSR: at that time it was distributed throughout the country, and research institutes were engaged in development, but due to lack of funding, everything fell apart.
"And it was much easier, since we were far behind, not to waste time on the development and creation of our production facilities, but to enter the global system and import medical products," Stanislav Goldberg believes.
He noted that today a lot of consumables, reagents, CT and MRI machines are manufactured in Russia, there have been attempts to establish the production of hemodialysis machines.
— But there are areas in which we are unlikely to have our own independent production, — the expert believes. — These are specific plastics, different biochemical components, some kind of optics.
The first vice-rector of the Higher School of Healthcare Organization and Management Nikolay Prokhorenko believes that the estimate of 70% of foreign medical products is correct, but it is averaged.
— If we count the devices for physiotherapy, then the share of our devices is greater, and if we take microscopes for performing ophthalmic operations, then they are significantly less than 30%, if they exist at all, — he said.
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It will take at least two years to establish import substitution of medical equipment, if there was a certain base and we are talking about upgrading the equipment already produced to a modern level, Nikolay Prokhorenko added.
— It is also necessary to take into account that the existing equipment is aging, — he noted. — The renovation period of the equipment can range from five to 12 years, and on average after seven to nine years it needs to be changed. Approximately 14% of the equipment needs to be replaced per year.
If Rostec plans to produce heavy, high-tech equipment with software, then it will have to work virtually from scratch, since it is "almost all imported," says Larisa Popovich, director of the HSE Institute of Health Economics.
— Moreover, our machines, on which it is possible to produce such equipment, are imported, — she noted. — But no one in the world fully provides subsistence farming, we must understand that not all of us will be able to do.
Larisa Popovich also reminded that the life span of medical technologies is two years — they quickly become obsolete.
Photo: TASS/Vladimir Gerdo
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According to a representative of one of Rostec's manufacturing companies, for some items of equipment, the price difference in favor of domestic developments in comparison with imported analogues is noticeable - up to 30-40%, for others — the cost is approximately the same. This indicator depends on the components, logistics, seriality. The higher the localization level, the lower the price. The larger the batch, the more competitive the cost, he said.
According to him, it is necessary to produce their own and win the market from foreign companies, then the prices will definitely be advantageous. To make domestic equipment mass—produced, attractive both in price and quality - this is exactly the task that is being set today.
Natalia Bashlykova
Irina Tsyruleva
Valeria Mishina
