Currently, the medicine shortage is a global phenomenon that characterizes the imperfection of the organization of medical care throughout the world. It leads to inconvenience for national health care systems, loss of profit for medical and pharmacy institutions, and also poses a risk to patient health due to inadequate, interrupted or insufficient treatment. Against this background, the range of pro-ducts for topical therapy – combined creams and ointments – has sharply decreased in the pharmacy network of the Russian Federation; aerosol forms of combined corticosteroids have also disappeared almost completely. According to expert estimates, satisfaction with the availability and quality of drug care in the Russian Federation in 2022 did not exceed 60–65%. Current problems of drug availability, as well as various aspects of the balance of drug and financial resources cannot be fully resolved by the existing medicine provision system. The current situation creates additional risks of deterioration in the quality of life and condition of people suffering from socially significant diseases, as well as the risk of increased mortality. More than 60% of the pharmaceutical market in the country is currently occupied by drugs produced in Russia. But the vast majority represents analogues of foreign drugs. According to expert estimates, proportion of original drugs, i.e. invented and produced directly in the country, is no more than 13%. At the same time, experts cannot speak unambiguously about the therapeutic equivalence and quality of Russian analogues. Another alternative direction for replenishing the drug shortage, especially for topical use, is to recreate industrial pharmacies.

Keywords: medicine provision, industrial pharmacies, dermatovenerology, dosage forms