ANALYSIS of the domeStIc mArket of pLANt-bASed medIcINeS

Therapy with medicinal plants and remedies on their basis from time immemorial has been used by mankind to treat a variety of diseases and has not lost its relevance up to now. Today, phytomedicines are used both in the complex therapy (as a complementary element) and independently. There are medicines of the plant origin and herbal remedies. The aim of this study was to analyse the range of phytomedicines registered at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine. In the section “Herbal medicines” of Reference book of medicines of Ukraine (04/01/2013) 992 names of medicines are presented, except of substances and medicines in bulk. The study of this range has shown that the vast majority of medicines are manufactured in Ukraine. Medicines produced in Germany and India prevail among foreign phytomedicines. Subsequent analysis of dosage forms of phytomedicines has revealed that the largest number of medicines comes to the domestic market in the form of the medicinal plant raw material, tablets, tinctures, capsules, solutions and syrups. Distribution of phytomedicines by the age limits has been studied. It has been found that the most of medicines are intended for use by children above 12 years old and adults. Thus, it has been found that there are only few phytomedicines for younger children, whereas phytotherapy is the most appropriate for treating children of different age groups. This fact makes developing of new domestic phytomedicines for use in pediatrics particularly relevant and reasonable.

Therapy with medicinal plants and remedies on their basis from time immemorial has been used by mankind to treat a variety of diseases and has not lost its relevance up to now.Today, phytomedicines are used both in the complex therapy (as a complementary element) and independently.There are medicines of the plant origin and herbal remedies.The aim of this study was to analyse the range of phytomedicines registered at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine.In the section "Herbal medicines" of Reference book of medicines of Ukraine (04/01/2013) 992 names of medicines are presented, except of substances and medicines in bulk.The study of this range has shown that the vast majority of medicines are manufactured in Ukraine.Medicines produced in Germany and India prevail among foreign phytomedicines.Subsequent analysis of dosage forms of phytomedicines has revealed that the largest number of medicines comes to the domestic market in the form of the medicinal plant raw material, tablets, tinctures, capsules, solutions and syrups.Distribution of phytomedicines by the age limits has been studied.It has been found that the most of medicines are intended for use by children above 12 years old and adults.Thus, it has been found that there are only few phytomedicines for younger children, whereas phytotherapy is the most appropriate for treating children of different age groups.This fact makes developing of new domestic phytomedicines for use in pediatrics particularly relevant and reasonable.
Herbal medicines (hereinafter -phytomedicines) occupy a significant place among drugs of conventional medicine, and their use is important due to a number of advantages in comparison with medicines of the synthetic origin.Thus, they are more environmentally friendly, have a polyvalent effect, at acceptable prices, their use may be long-term, etc. [1, 4, 5, 7, 8].
Nowadays phytomedicines are actively used in the complex therapy as a complementary element that supplements and enhances the therapeutic effect of treatment [6,9,10].
Phytomedicines include medicines of the plant origin ("any finished medicinal product containing active substances from one or more plant substances, or active substances from one or more plant substances in combination with other medicinal products") and herbal remedies ("medicines obtained from processing of plant substances by extraction, distillation, pressing, fractionation, purification, concentration and fermentation.They include crushed or powdered plant substances, tinctures, extracts, essential oils, expressed juices and processed exudates") [3].
For the purpose of analysis [2] of the domestic market of phytomedicines they have been studied by the place of manufacturing, distribution by the type of a dosage form and age limits.

materials and methods
The range of phytomedicines registered at the Reference book of medicines of Ukraine (04/01/2013) was studied by manufacturing countries (Fig. 1, Tab. 1).
The analysis of nomenclature by the type of a dosage form (Tab. 2) was conducted, and distribution of phytomedicines by the age category (Fig. 2) was studied.

results and discussion
The Reference book of medicines of Ukraine (04/01/2013), section "Herbal medicines", includes 992 medicines, excluding substances and medicines in bulk [3].
It has been found that in the range selected phytomedicines of domestic production prevail -there are 651 names registered at the market (Fig. 1).
Taking into account that the share of phytomedicines of foreign production is significant, their structure by manufacturing country was studied.It has been found that suppliers of phytomedicines to the domestic market are manufacturers from 32 countries (Tab.1).
The next stage of the study was analysis of the range of medicines selected by the type of a dosage form, in which they enter the market since the therapeutic effect of the medicine largely depends exactly on the dosage form.The type of the dosage form is also important in the individual approach to treatment of each patient and in treating diseases of varying severity.
It has been found that phytomedicines are presented as 27 dosage forms at the domestic pharmaceutical market (Tab.2).
The vast majority of medicines in the form of the medicinal plant raw material are medicines of domestic production, while many of them do not have additional packaging to filter bags, but it is inconvenient for their further use by patients.
Very few phytomedicines are represented in such dosage forms as juices, dragee and pills (0.10% each) at the domestic pharmaceutical market.In our opinion, when creating new medicines based on the plant material it is advisable to consider this fact when choosing the dosage form.
Phytomedicines provide a "soft" therapeutic effect at a low toxicity, cause significantly fewer side effects and are usually much easier tolerated by patients compared to synthetic medicines.Therefore, phytomedicines form the basic range of medicines of choice in pediatrics.
The further analysis of the age limits for using phytomedicines has shown that they are divided into 20 groups (Fig. 2).The vast majority of medicines (351 names) are provided for the use of children above 12 years and Тable 1 The structure of phytomedicines of foreign production at the domestic pharmaceutical market by manufacturing countries Among phytomedicines that can be used without the age limit (63 names) the significant part takes those that do not contain individually specified information and recommendations for their use by children, causing some doubts about the possibility of their use by this age group.
It is important to note that some domestic phytomedicines in the form of the medicinal plant raw material, which are analogues in the composition and a dosage form but produced by different companies, have conflicting data regarding their safety for children.For example, the patient information leaflet of "Linden flowers" manufactured by KP Kyiv Regional Council "Pharmaceutical Factory" (Kyiv) indicates that "when applying the medicine it should be considered that the safety and efficiency of its use in the treatment of children under 12 years old have not been found, that is why the medicine for patients in this age group should be used with caution".
Herewith, "Linden flowers" produced by "Liktravy" PJSC (Zhitomir) and Pharmaceutical factory "Viola" PJSC (Zaporizhzhya) specify an age limit as -for children above 3 years.Such differences may cause difficulties for patients.
ConCLuSionS 1.The range of phytomedicines registered in the Reference book of medicines of Ukraine (04/01/2013), section "Herbal medicines" has been studied.It has been found that the vast majority of medicines are produced in Ukraine (65.62%).Manufactures from Germany (22.91%) and India (14.65%) prevail among foreign suppliers.
2. The analysis of the range of medicines selected has revealed that the largest number of medicines comes to the domestic market in the form of the medicinal plant raw material (16.63%), tablets (14.31%), tinctures (12.50%), capsules (9,68%), solutions (6.96%) and syrups (6.55%).
3. Distribution of phytomedicines by the age limits has been studied.The most of medicines are intended for use by children above 12 years old (35.38%) and adults (22.38%).

Fig. 1 .
Fig. 1.The origin of phytomedicines registered at the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market by the place of production.
. 2. The age limits specified in patient information leaflets for phytomedicines that are presented at the domestic pharmaceutical market.