The мarketing research of the Ukrainian market of drugs for the treatment of arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systematic disease of the connective tissue with peripheral joints damage and characteristic non-arterial effects. Rheumatic diseases affect the national economy, lead to considerable expenses for their treatment and reduce the quality of the patients’ life. Aim. To study drugs used for the treatment of arthritis at the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market, determine the number of the domestic and imported producers. Materials and methods. The analysis of the drug assortment was conducted in accordance with the State Register of Drugs of Ukraine and ATC-classification of the WHO. The sources of information used were Compendium 2016 – Drugs, and a Software Complex, a weekly journal “Pharmacy online”. Results and discussion. It has been determined that the leading position of producers of drugs for the treatment of RA belongs to national manufacturers, and there is also a significant market share in manufacturers from Germany, Switzerland and Israel. By the pharmacological action the most common group (26 %) is presented by anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs; 25 % of foreign and domestic drugs are antiviral drugs; 19 % are other drugs used in pathology of the locomotor system. The majority group of medicines consists of tablets, capsules and injectable dosage forms. Conclusions. According to the ATC-classification data there are approximately 60 drugs presented at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. This market segment includes different pharmacotherapeutic groups, a wide range of manufacturing countries and pharmaceutical companies. However, there is no original combined gel of the complex national production at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine.

Ключевые слова: ревматоидный артрит; маркетинговый анализ; фармацевтический рынок; гель Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic disease of the connective tissue with peripheral joints damage and characteristic non-arterial effects. Rheumatic diseases lead to significant healthcare costs, affect the national economy and decrease the quality of life.
According to the data of the Ministry of Health RA is spread among 116492 patients, 52000 of which are persons of the working age. Incapacitation and the growth of disablement are the most important socio-economic consequences of RA. Annually, 90 % of patients with an aggressive form of the disease become disabled. The average life expectancy of patients with RA decreases by 10-15 years, i.e. it is one of severe therapeutic diseases [1,2,3,4].
RA should be treated in a complex way in several stages: drug therapy, local therapy, sanatorium-resort care, physical and medico-social rehabilitation. One of the methods of RA therapy is phytotherapy. Herbal medicinal products help to alleviate the condition, as well as reduce pain in the affected joints. In RA the folk medicine has long used individual herbs, and it is possible to combine them with each other: birch leaves, stinging nettle, white willow bark, juniper fruit, wild strawberry herb, sage herb, etc. [4,5,6,7].
The aim of the work was to study the range of drugs used for the treatment of arthritis at the Ukrainian pharmaceutical market, determine the number of the domestic and imported producers. Marketing research of the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine was performed in order to create an original combined gel with the complex action for the treatment of RA.

Materials and methods
The assortment of drugs was analyzed in accordance with the State Register of Medicines of Ukraine and ATC-classification of the WHO. The sources of information used were Compendium 2016 -Drugs, and a Software Complex, a weekly journal "Pharmacy online" [8,9,10].
In order to determine the feasibility of creating new drugs for the treatment of RA the assortment of drugs presented at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine was analyzed.

Results and discussion
In accordance with the ATC-classification drugs for the treatment of rheumatic diseases belong to the group M01 -anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic drugs. This group includes M01A -non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs, L03 -immunostimulants, J05 -antiviral drugs for systemic use, A11 -vitamins.
According to the ATC-classification data there are approximately 60 drugs presented at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. This market segment includes different pharmacotherapeutic groups, a wide range of manufacturing countries and pharmaceutical companies, such as SANDOZ, KRKA, Novartis Pharma, Berlin-Chemie AG, Teva, Gedeon Richter, Darnitsa, and Zdorovye (Table).
The share of manufacturing countries of drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine is shown in Fig. 1.
According to the research results given in Fig. 1 it has been determined that the leading position belongs to domestic manufactures (34 %), a significant share of the market is also owned by manufactures from Germany (18 %), Switzerland (9 %) and Israel (7 %).
The classification of drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by their pharmacological action is given in Fig. 2. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the most common group (26 %) are anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic drugs; 25 % of foreign and domestic drugs are antiviral drugs; 19 % are other drugs used in pathology of the musculoskeletal system. Distribution of drugs by dosage form is given in Fig. 3.
As can be seen from Fig. 3, the most numerous dosage forms are tablets (56 %), capsules (14 %) and injec-table dosage forms (15 %). Medicines in the form of gels, powders, oral drops and others occupy 15 % of the market.
CONCLUSIONS According to the ATC-classification data there are approximately 60 drugs presented at the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. The market segment covers various pharmacotherapeutic groups, a wide range of manufacturing