ST. PETERSBURG, November 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is satisfied with the development of domestic technologies that facilitate the production of effective medicines to treat serious diseases, as he himself said during a visit to the Geropharm company in St. Petersburg.
"I am very pleased to find out that the company was established from scratch. It is very impressive that its founders succeeded in recruiting experts, taking the first steps, launching an industrial production division and eventually acquiring a significant position on the market," Putin said, welcoming the company’s plans to expand production and reach foreign markets.
The president pointed out that the visit to the insulin producer was dedicated to World Diabetes Day marked on November 15. He noted that about 4.5 mln people in Russia suffered from diabetes. "Plans are that the plant will produce enough insulin to meet our country’s demand," Putin said.
"Improving the people’s quality of life and increasing life expectancy is one of the country’s top priorities, as everything must be based on people’s needs, including our national projects," the Russian president stressed. "People nowadays can combat diseases, even the most dangerous ones, thanks to cutting-edge technologies and new generations of drugs, as science - and biotechnology in particular - has been rapidly advancing," he noted.
The president also said that advanced technologies made it possible to greatly increase the number of people saved from serious diseases. In this regard, he pointed to the growth of Russia’s pharmaceutical industry. "In the past six years, nearly 3,000 Russian medicines have been registered, which fully meet quality and safety criteria," Putin said.