Analysis of assortment and volumes of consumption of antihistamin preparations in Ukraine
Authors: Iakovlieva L.V. , Berdnik O. G. , Gurtyakova A. A. 
Published: October 2018

Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of allergic diseases has doubled every 10 years. According to WHO, currently about 5% of the world's adult population and 15% of children suffer from allergic diseases.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the assortment of antihistamines in the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine, determine the availability for consumers by the indicator of Ca.s. and their volumes of consumption by ATS/DDD-methodology during 2014‒2017.

Represented in the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine antihistamines were analyzed according to the analytical system of research of the pharmaceutical market «Pharmstandard» of the company «MORION». As an indicator of socio-economic accessibility of antihistamines, an indicator of the adequacy of the solvency of Ca.s. Volumes of consumption of antihistamines were examined using the WHO recommended ATC/DDD methodology. Information on the DDD values is available on the WHO website: www.who.int/countries/ukr.

During the period under study, there was a decrease in the number of TNs against the background of an increase in the number of INNs of all three generations. The quantitative ratio of domestic and foreign producers has not changed significantly.

Based on the results of the Ca.s. found that antihistamines for the population of Ukraine for all four years are mainly high-availability drugs. And only 14.29% of fexofenadine preparations (in 2014) and 3.22% of desloratadine preparations (in 2015) are medium-accessible. The low indicator of the adequacy of solvency (Ca.s.) to 5%, confirms the availability of drugs group R06 and guarantees their consumption in the face of a decline in economic development in Ukraine.

The most consumed during the studied four years were LS of five INNs: Mebrogroline, Cetirizine, Loratadine, Levocetirizine and Desloratadine, related to all three generations of antihistamines. Consumption of this group of the most used drugs during the study period was 89.94%, 90.64%, 90.70% and 90.47%, respectively, over the years of total consumption of antihistamines.

During 2014‒2017 there is a decrease in the number of TN drugs against the background of an increase in the number of INN: from 172 TN on the basis of 16 INN in 2014 to 160 TN on the basis of 17 INNs in 2017. The quantitative ratio of domestic and foreign producers has not changed significantly. The assortment of antihistamine drugs for 2017 is quite wide. On the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine are represented drugs of all three generations. Depending on the manufacturer, the prices varied from low to high, namely the spread of prices from 1.65 UAH to 212.43 UAH in 2014 and from 4.76 UAH to 567.63 UAH in 2017, which made it possible to select individual drugs taking into account the active ingredients, dosage form and price.

According to the results of the Ca.s indices, it is established that antihistamines for the population of Ukraine for the entire four years are represented mainly by high-availability TN. And only 14.29% of fexofenadine preparations (in 2014) and 3.22% of desloratadine preparations (in 2015) are medium-accessible. The low indicator of the adequacy of solvency (Ca.s.) to 5%, confirms the availability of drugs group R06 and guarantees their consumption in the face of a decline in economic development in Ukraine.

According to the analysis of the consumption of antihistamines in DDDs/1000 inhabitants/day, the increase in the consumption of these drugs was observed every year from 9.64 in 2014 to 10.60 in 2017. At the same time, the consumption of the latest generation drugs increased: INN desloratadine (from 0.98 in 2014 to 1.27 in 2017) and INN levocetirizine (from 1.91 in 2014 to 2.53 in 2017), which have profitable pharmacokinetic characteristics and the optimal efficiency / safety ratio. The consumption of second-generation drugs remains stably large: loratadine (2.62 in both 2014 and 2017), cetirizine (from 1.78 in 2014 to 1.94 in 2017). Along with sufficiently high pharmacological activity, they have a relatively low cost, since they are mainly presented in the pharmaceutical market in the form of generic versions.

Against the background of the trend of increasing consumption of antihistamines in Ukraine over the last four years (from 9.64 DDDs/1000 inhabitants/day in 2014 to 10.60 DDDs/1000 inhabitants/day in 2017), it is established that in Ukraine there is a large number patients who do not receive in full, or do not receive quality adequate antihistamine therapy at all.