The Current Climate of Clinical Trials in Russia and Ukraine | Page 2

INTRODUCTION
Background
Although clinical trials, both domestic and
multinational, have been conducted in Russia and
Ukraine for many years, there is increasing interest
in conducting multinational trials for a number
of reasons. As European borders have opened and
standardized guidelines and processes have been or
are being established, it is becoming easier than ever
before to access populations in these countries.

Despite a smaller overall population (~43 million
people4), there is similar access to potential
participants who are treatment naïve in Ukraine, with
69.5% of people living in urban areas.5-7
In this paper, we discuss the current health-care and
clinical-trial environments for Russia and Ukraine.
Recently expressed concerns in these countries are
acknowledged, and important considerations when
applying for clinical trial approval are discussed, based
on locally based experience.

With a population of ~144 million people,1,2 of which
73.9% live in urban areas,2,3 Russia in particular
provides a promising pool of potential, often
treatment-naïve participants for clinical trials.

P OPULAT ION PY RAMID I N RU S S I A I N 2 0 1 4 ( M E N VS . WO M E N)
100+
95-99
90-94
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
7

5.6

4.2

Population (in Millions)

2.8

1.4

0

0

Age Group

1.4

2.8

4.2

5.6

7

Population (in Millions)

2 Figure 1. Population Pyramid in Russia in 2014
Source: World Factbook: Russia; https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html