Following the success of new weight-management drugs, a wave of strong demand for anti-obesity medicines is moving to Russia. Sales of these drugs have doubled in terms of packs sold over the past year and risen almost 2.5-fold in rouble terms. Weight-loss injections are now sold in Russia at prices comparable to those in the US and Europe. Around 1 mln Russians buy anti-obesity drugs, although ten times as many people are affected by the disease.
Demand for anti-obesity drugs is growing rapidly in Russia. Over the past 12 months, 14 mln packs of such medicines worth almost RUB 80 bln have been sold in Russia. That is twice as many packs as a year earlier and 2.4 times more in rouble terms, Medvestnik reports, citing reports by AlfaRM. Most anti-obesity drugs are sold through commercial pharmacies.
Meanwhile, the government purchased only 4.8% of total anti-obesity drug sales by value and 5.8% by volume between August 2025 and July 2026. In other words, patients themselves are buying the medicines used to control their weight.
The average monthly cost of a pack of weight-loss medicines was about RUB 5,600. Depending on the active ingredient, a month’s supply was sold in Russia for between RUB 1,700 and 12,800 per pack.
As domestic production of Western drug equivalents has expanded, their prices in Russia have fallen by 10% to as much as 28% over the past year, depending on the active ingredients. So while a couple of years ago weight-loss injections were used mainly by very wealthy Russians, today they are within reach of the merely wealthy.
Since 2019, Russia’s Health Ministry has been registering each new generation of weight-loss drugs for use in the country. Both pharmaceutical companies and public lobby groups are seeking to have these medicines included in official clinical guidelines. The potential Russian market for weight-loss drugs is currently less than 10% penetrated. But tapping this market will require not only lower prices and greater access to medicines, but also overcoming possible side effects.
At the end of August 2026, the Health Ministry ordered that buyers of weight-loss drugs be warned about possible loss of vision. Officials are demanding changes to the instructions for medical use of one weight-loss drug, adding warnings about possible disorders of the ‘organs of vision’, although such effects are described as ‘very rare’. The medicine’s leaflet must now include the recommendation: ‘If during treatment with this medicine you notice sudden loss of vision or a rapid deterioration in your eyesight, seek medical attention immediately.’
Side effects, of course, are associated with almost all medicines. Each patient must assess for themselves the risks of taking weight-loss drugs, as well as the broader risks of possible complications and diseases associated with obesity.
The benchmark for cutting the price of anti-obesity drugs was set late last year by US President Donald Trump. In November 2025, Trump announced at the White House that agreements had been reached with several pharmaceutical companies to reduce the price of a group of obesity-control drugs. Initial doses of tablets began to cost USD 149 a month, while injections started at USD 245. Trump said the price cuts would allow millions of elderly and low-income Americans to gain access to medicines that had previously cost up to USD 1,000 a month. Participants in the US national health insurance programme for people aged 65 and over will pay USD 50 for a monthly dose of an anti-obesity drug
In Russia, the number of patients with a registered diagnosis of ‘obesity’ stood at about 3 mln last year. Specialists, however, cite very different figures.
‘One in three Russians is obese, and another one in three is overweight. So based on prevalence, at least 40 mln people are overweight or pre-obese. This is already a category of Russians who need to work on obesity prevention,’ said Natalya Mokrishova, director of the Health Ministry’s Endocrinology Centre and an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She said preventing obesity requires changes in eating behaviour and dietary habits, as well as a significant increase in physical activity. Once a diagnosis has been made, people should under no circumstances attempt to treat obesity themselves with medication. Treatment must be carried out exclusively under medical supervision.
‘Obesity plays a very important role in accelerating biological ageing,’ the academician said. She added that stress, poor diet, insufficient physical activity and unhealthy habits all have a significant impact on the development of obesity. Obesity increases the risk of death and contributes to cognitive impairment, cardiovascular disorders, chronic inflammation and reduced muscle function, Natalya Mokrishova noted.
The economic cost to Russia of human losses caused by diseases associated with excess weight could reach 0.7% of GDP a year, according to estimates by the Higher School of Economics (HSE). The estimate assumes that all those who died from obesity-related diseases could otherwise have participated in producing gross domestic product. The total amount of GDP not produced over the potential remaining lifetimes of people who died from obesity and excess weight in 2023 could exceed RUB 1.25 tn, according to HSE calculations, at 2023 prices
ORIGINAL: NG/Russia Hit by Surge in Demand for Obesity Injections
