The study of the range, availability and affordability of vitamin B1 medicines combined with vitamin B6 and/or B12 in the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine

Abstract

Aim. To conduct a study of the range of combined neurotropic vitamins B in the pharmaceutical market, to analyze their availability and affordability for patients with neurological diseases.

Materials and methods. The study was conducted using data from the State Register of Medicines of Ukraine, ATC classification, and information on statistical retail prices from the online service www.tabletki.ua. Such research methods as systematization, generalization, comparative, marketing, content analysis, pharmacoeconomic analysis by the “cost of illness” method were used.

Results. The pharmaceutical market of vitamin A11DB group Vitamin B₁ in combination with vitamin B₆ and/or B₁₂ registered in Ukraine as 43 trade names (TN) of medicines has been analyzed taking into account all dosage forms; among them, 53.5 % are medicines of domestic manufacturers. Among dosage forms, the vast majority are solutions for injection (65.1 %). Only 56 % of the registered medicines are accessible, i.e. available for sale in regional pharmacies, with an equal proportion of domestic and foreign manufacturers. In 63 % of the drugs studied, the price liquidity ratio indicator shows fluctuations from 0.51 to 1.0, which indicates a significant range of drug prices, a relatively low level of competition in the market, and negatively characterizes the availability of these drugs for the population. It has been found that for injectable dosage forms of the drugs studied, the coefficient of adequacy of solvency ranges from 1.41 % to 3.30 %, and for oral medicines – from 0.67 % to 6.20 %, i.e., the cost of purchasing one package of a complex vitamin B medicine does not exceed 6.20 % of the average monthly salary on the example of the Odesa region, which is not included in the List of territories where military operations are (were) conducted or temporarily occupied. A pharmacoeconomic analysis has been conducted using the “cost of illness” method; and the drugs of choice have been selected taking into account the information on their equivalence provided by the manufacturer. According to the results of this analysis, it has been found that the cost of treating polyneuropathy with complex vitamin B medicines produced in Ukraine is 1.4-6 times more affordable than in the case of imported analogues.

Conclusions. The results presented indicate the need to introduce additional mechanisms for compensating the cost of vitamin B medicines in order to increase the level of socio-economic affordability of pharmaceutical care provided in pharmacies. In addition, they can be used in the formation of the range of medicines to ensure the availability of medicines of choice, taking into account the most affordable cost of the treatment course.