Why medicines cost more in Uzbekistan? Pharmaceutical Agency chief explains

There are several reasons behind the high cost of medicines in Uzbekistan, according to Abdulla Azizov, Director of the Agency for the Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry. He discussed the issue in an interview with Daryo.

Azizov noted that Uzbekistan’s pharmaceutical market is currently valued at $2.8 to $3 billion, with around 80% of medicines being imported. This heavy reliance on foreign suppliers significantly affects pricing.

“Yes, at the moment our prices are somewhat high. But we are actively working to bring them down. For instance, we’re currently implementing 26 projects within the Tashkent Pharma Park cluster alone. Across Uzbekistan, we have close to 160 projects. Once these are completed, we expect to see results — increased production will lead to stronger competition, which in turn will help drive prices down,” Azizov said.

He also emphasized that pharmaceutical development is a slow process, which further impacts pricing.

“Building a pharmaceutical plant takes at least two years. Then you need about six months for validation, followed by nine months to obtain special certification. After that, the product must go through a registration process that can take up to a year, including clinical trials. Altogether, it takes over four years before production can begin. And even once your product hits the market, it’s not immediately purchased — it needs to be recognized by consumers and doctors. Unlike TVs or other products, you can’t expect quick sales or profits in pharmaceuticals,” he explained.

Azizov also mentioned that many medicines in Uzbekistan are actually cheaper than in Kazakhstan, highlighting the use of a reference pricing system based on the average cost of medicines in ten benchmark countries.

“When determining a reference price (the maximum allowable price), we take the average cost of the medicine in ten countries. If the import price is below that average, we use the import price. But if the import price is higher, we must use the average. That’s the requirement under our legislation,” he said.

He added that the issue of high prices often arises when comparing Uzbekistan’s prices to countries like Turkey and Egypt, but such comparisons can be misleading due to differences in economic context and policy.

“Turkey and Egypt are under heavy inflationary pressure. In Egypt, the economic crisis has pushed the government to force price caps because many citizens can't afford medication. This pressure can be difficult for local manufacturers. Turkish producers, on the other hand, compensate for price pressure by selling non-prescription drugs and exporting. The government supports these companies because they operate locally. That’s why comparing their prices to ours isn’t appropriate. There’s even concern that our own manufacturers might suffer if we follow Egypt’s model too closely. But our goal isn’t to match those countries — instead, we’ve included both of them among our reference countries to balance the pricing,” he explained.

Azizov concluded by noting that the government is actively working to lower reference prices. Out of 8,000 medicine types reviewed so far, prices for 3,000 have already been reassessed. In the first stage, reference prices for 490 of these are expected to be reduced.