At the Government session, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov noted the ongoing work to stimulate the inflow of funds into the domestic pharmaceutical industry, within which investment agreements are being concluded, primeminister.kz reports.
Work is underway on 9 investment projects for the production of medicinal products and medical devices. The Ministry of Health, together with the relevant government agencies, has been instructed to complete all organizational work within three months and ensure the signing of agreements with investors.
The new digital pricing system for medicines has established uniform rules for all participants in the pharmaceutical market. The reduction in procurement prices for medicinal products this year allowed the Government to save over 36 billion tenge, which will be directed to additional medicinal provision for the population. It is clear that the decrease in procurement prices is not favored by manufacturers and suppliers, but we must be guided by the interests of our citizens. Procurement of medicines will be carried out at a fair price. I would like to address domestic pharmaceutical manufacturers: we will continue to support you. Let no one doubt this. However, state support measures will be provided only to good-faith market participants who supply high-quality medical products and do not artificially inflate prices," the Prime Minister emphasized.
Minister of Healthcare Akmaral Alnazarova reported that procurement of medicinal products for 2026 is already being carried out under the updated system. As a result of reduced prices for a wide range of medicines, significant budgetary efficiency has been achieved. For several high-cost items, prices decreased from 50% to 300%. This primarily concerns oncological medicines. For example, the price of Imatinib was reduced from 9,450 to 2,348 tenge, and the price of Bevacizumab - from 360 thousand to 77 thousand tenge.
In addition, medicines for other therapeutic profiles have also significantly decreased in price. For example, budget savings for the antibiotic Cefepime amounted to 174 million tenge (-40%), and for the immunobiological drug Eculizumab - 424 million tenge (-18%).
The TOP-10 medicines that ensured the greatest budgetary efficiency also included such products as Sorafenib and Sunitinib. Prices have also been significantly reduced for Insulin Degludec, Methotrexate, Eltrombopag, Budesonide, and Iopromide.
Changes also affected the retail market. Prices for 4,900 medicine items have been revised. According to the results of pharmacy monitoring in October-November of the current year, the cost of popular medicines decreased on average by 12%. For example, Cefaps decreased by 31%, Zitmak - by 20%, and Revmoxicam - by 32%.
According to the Ministry of Healthcare, key domestic manufacturers have already adapted to the new rules, reducing prices for their product lines. The funds saved will be allocated to meet the additional needs of newly diagnosed patients. Overall, the new pricing model is forming a stable and predictable market, strengthening supply security and reducing dependence on external price fluctuations. Work to consolidate the achieved results will continue.
This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today.