Hakob Topchyan: The Armenian pharmaceutical market often falsifies expensive drugs

ArmInfo. The Armenian  pharmaceutical market often falsifies expensive medications. This was  stated at the press conference by the head of the Center for  Expertise of Medicines and Medical Equipment of the Ministry of  Health of Armenia Hakob Topchyan.

He also noted that medicines have been often forged in recent times  to reduce pressure. According to Topchyan, there is also a problem in  the technology of drug transportation. "Very often standards are not  observed, and drugs are spoiled," he said. The expert also advised to  look at the marking when buying medicines. "In Armenia, only those  drugs that have undergone preliminary examination to establish  compliance with necessary characteristics are labeled," Topchyan  noted.

In turn, Sanofi's security director in the Eurasia region, Yuri  Orlov, said that recently the company has a rich experience in  cooperation with Armenia. "The problem with counterfeit medicines is  quite common, and no country can firmly state that it has fully  insured itself from getting such drugs on the market," Orlov said.

According to Orlov, Russia and Ukraine are the main producers of  counterfeit medicines penetrating the Armenian market. Less often,  however, there are counterfeit medicines from India, China and  Pakistan.  Sanofi's director of security in the Eurasia region also  noted that sometimes some drugs that are sold in pharmacies are not  designed for the region, so when buying drugs, you need to be  especially careful.

Orlov also said that over the past 10 years, in Armenia, there was no  evidence of falsification of medicines by Sanofi.