“Within the framework of pharmaceutical market monitoring, 13 recommendations were issued, some of which were implemented by the Georgian government and the Ministry of Health. Among the most effective measures were reference pricing, which significantly reduced medicine costs, and the introduction of generic electronic prescriptions, enabling consumers to save substantially on medicines,” the Chairman of the Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, Irakli Lekvinadze, stated.

According to him, four companies were heavily fined for engaging in concerted action concerning oncology medicines.

“We fined four companies for coordinated practices related to oncology drugs. There were cases where imported medicines, costing just a few GEL, were sold for 30 GEL. Today, the situation has improved significantly. Previously, markups reached 180–200%, covering expenses such as conferences, luxury hotel stays, jewellery, plastic surgeries, and more—costs that companies expected us to accept as legitimate. These practices were widespread before the introduction of reference prices,” Lekvinadze explained.