The Ministry of Health said that the registration of “Zeposia” was canceled at the initiative of the manufacturer — Celgene International SAR. The agency did not specify the reasons for this decision, and the drug had previously been included in the list of vital and essential medicines.
Tatyana Khodanovich, CEO of the Pharmedu service, said that at the moment there is nothing in Russia to replace “Zeposia”. According to her, patients will have to choose a new therapy together with their attending physicians and prepare for a difficult adaptation period.
Khodanovich believes that the regulator should intervene in the situation, since there is no registered alternative and multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease requiring continuous treatment. At the same time, Russia stopped purchasing “Zeposia” back in 2025.
In 2023, 69 packs of the drug were purchased for 3.5 million rubles, and in 2024 — 29 packs for 3.8 million rubles. According to the Ministry of Health, in 2025 there were about 101,000 people with multiple sclerosis in Russia.
This is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that can lead to impairments of vision, sensation, coordination, and motor function. Over five years, by 2025, the number of hospitalizations with this diagnosis in the country increased by 38.2%.
At the same time, the Ministry of Health canceled the registration of “Signifor” — a drug from the VED list based on pasireotide, used for Cushing’s disease. It is produced by Recordati Rare Diseases, and in this case patients have access to a switch to osilodrostat from the same company.
Nina Petunina, head of the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Health at Sechenov University, estimated the effectiveness of osilodrostat at 76–86% versus 40% for pasireotide. Another option may be “Signifor LAR”, but so far this medicine is not registered and is available only by decision of a council at a federal medical center.
A representative of the manufacturer of “Signifor” linked the decision to discontinue registration to optimization of the product portfolio. In total, in the summer of 2026, the Ministry of Health removed 23 drugs from the registry.
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