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<article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" article-type="research-article" dtd-version="1.1d1" xml:lang="en"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">REMEDIUM</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>REMEDIUM</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn publication-format="print">1561-5936</issn><issn publication-format="electronic">2658-3534</issn><publisher><publisher-name>Joint-Stock Company Chicot</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">1859</article-id><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.32687/1561-5936-2026-30-1-4-8</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Original Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title-group><article-title>Identifying barriers to access to innovative drug therapy</article-title></title-group><contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lebedev</surname><given-names>Andrey A.</given-names></name><bio></bio><email>aandrey.lebedev@gmail.com</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name name-style="western"><surname>Denisova</surname><given-names>Maria N.</given-names></name><bio></bio><email>denisova@nriph.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kurkin</surname><given-names>Denis V.</given-names></name><bio></bio><email>kurkin-dv@rosunimed.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name name-style="western"><surname>Marincheva</surname><given-names>Olga V.</given-names></name><bio></bio><email>marincheva-ov@rosunimed.ru</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib><contrib contrib-type="author"><name name-style="western"><surname>Sinitsyna</surname><given-names>Anastasia A.</given-names></name><bio></bio><email>sinitsyna.anastasiia@gmail.com</email><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-1"/><xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff-2"/></contrib></contrib-group><aff id="aff-1">N. A. Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health, Moscow, Russia</aff><aff id="aff-2">K. M. Lakin Scientific and Educational Institute of Pharmacy, Russian University of Medicine, Moscow, Russia</aff><pub-date date-type="epub" iso-8601-date="2026-03-30" publication-format="electronic"><day>30</day><month>03</month><year>2026</year></pub-date><volume>30</volume><issue>1</issue><fpage>4</fpage><lpage>8</lpage><history><pub-date date-type="received" iso-8601-date="2026-03-23"><day>23</day><month>03</month><year>2026</year></pub-date></history><permissions><copyright-statement>Copyright © 2026,</copyright-statement><copyright-year>2026</copyright-year></permissions><abstract>This article addresses the issues of accessibility of innovative drugs in modern healthcare and identifies existing barriers. The share of such innovative drugs on the Russian pharmaceutical market (all channels) is approximately 20% (in value) and only 1% (in number of trade names/molecules) in recent years. From 2017 to 2021, 168 innovative molecules were registered in the EU, 35 of which were in Russia. The rate of introduction of innovative drugs into medical practice in Russia is high; however, access to them is limited to certain categories of patients, regions, and diseases. The main barriers to access to innovative therapy are: economic conditions caused by sanctions and logistical problems; insufficient coverage of reimbursement programs; imperfect pricing policy; the risk of compulsory licensing; insufficient technological and scientific development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry. The study showed that in the future, a further decline in the share of imported innovative drugs on the Russian market is likely, against the backdrop of the development of local innovations.</abstract><kwd-group xml:lang="en"><kwd>innovative drugs</kwd><kwd>availability of drugs</kwd><kwd>access barriers</kwd><kwd>clinical trials</kwd><kwd>registration of drugs</kwd></kwd-group><kwd-group xml:lang="ru"><kwd>инновационные лекарственные препараты</kwd><kwd>доступность лекарственных препаратов</kwd><kwd>барьеры доступа</kwd><kwd>клинические исследования</kwd><kwd>регистрация лекарственных препаратов</kwd></kwd-group></article-meta></front><body></body><back><ref-list><ref id="B1"><label>1.</label><mixed-citation>Wertheimer A. I., Santella T. M. Innovation and the WHO&amp;apos;s essential medicines list: giving credit where credit is due. 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