October 17 A full-cycle insulin production facility will be set up in Sverdlovsk Region in the next eighteen months; this insulin’s quality will equal that of its foreign counterparts, but it will be nearly 33% less expensive. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev is going to talk about an innovational model for the development of the medical and the pharmaceutical industries and about ensuring drug safety in Russia at the Russian Government meeting on October 18, the Governor’s Information Policy Department reports.

The Ural industry’s achievements in the field of developing up-to-date medications and medical equipment were discussed by the Governor with the Mid-Urals Healthcare Minister Arkady Belyavsky and Russian State Duma deputy and one of the people behind the idea of the Ural Biomedical Cluster Alexander Petrov on October 16.

‘There are 40 medical equipment manufacturers and about ten pharmaceutical companies operating in Sverdlovsk Region now. Our pharmaceutical cluster has been operating successfully for a number of years already. So, we have a lot to offer to our colleagues in terms of the medical and the pharmaceutical industries development. I am positive that, given how much attention the Prime Minister pays to this issue, we have every chance of making our initiatives come true,’ Evgeny Kuivashev said.

Now the Ural Pharmaceutical Cluster Non-Profit Partnership was set up in the Mid-Urals at the initiative of the former Governor and current Senator Eduard Rossel. The insulin production facility was launched at Novouralsk-based Medsintez, a member of this cluster. At the moment, the cluster meets 70% of the Russian market’s insulin needs.

‘The facility in Novouralsk currently produces 10bn units, which is a lot, but, sadly, the number of people who have diabetes keeps rising by 10% to 15% every year in Russia and all over the world. Our job is to provide enough insulin for everyone who needs it,’ Alexander Petrov said.