According to the RNC Pharma® database “Audit of Retail Sales of Medicinal Products in Russia (total sell-out)”, in Q1–Q3 2025, Russian consumers purchased 7.93 million packages of chondroprotectors^[1] (EphMRA group M05X). Over the year, volume consumption in this drug group increased by 2.3%, while value sales reached RUB 18.7 billion (in retail prices, including VAT), showing 13.3% year-on-year growth compared with the same period in 2024. For comparison, in 2024 sales volumes grew by 7.5%, and consumer spending rose by 19% versus 2023.

The majority of chondroprotectors sold are injectable formulations, which accounted for 75% of category sales in value terms. It is this segment that drives the overall market growth: compared with Q1–Q3 2024, injectable product sales increased by 19.4% in value and 6.8% in volume. In contrast, oral chondroprotectors showed a decline of –1.5% in value and –8.3% in volume year-on-year.

Products containing chondroitin, glucosamine, or their combinations dominate the category — in January–September 2025, they accounted for 71% of total volume sales and over 69% of total market value. Sales were recorded for 28 brands with these active ingredients. In total, 38 brands from 43 corporations were represented on the retail market during the reporting period.

Alflutop (Biotehnos, Romania) retained its leading position, accounting for 24.5% of category sales. Compared with January–September 2024, its sales grew by 14.9% in value and 2.5% in volume. Chondroguard (Sotex, Russia) ranked second, with a 10.3% share and +21% value growth. In third place was Injectran (Ellara, Russia), which held 9.9% of sales and showed +28% value growth. The Romanian product Rumalon (Rompharm) ranked fourth with a 9.4% share and +24% growth, while Teraflex (Bayer Healthcare), an oral capsule formulation, took fifth place with 8.3% share and +21% growth.

The fastest growth among the top brands was recorded for Mucosat (Diamed-Pharma, Russia), ranked eighth, with +40.5% year-on-year value growth. Two brands in the top ten — Artra (Nizhpharm) and Artogistan (Groteks) — showed declining sales, both down –29% in value and volume.

Top 10 Chondroprotective Drug Brands (EphMRA Group M05X) by retail sales value in the Russian pharmaceutical market, Q1–Q3 2025

[1] The analysis covered only systemic medicinal products classified under group M05X — “Other drugs for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders.” Combinations of chondroitin and glucosamine with NSAIDs were excluded from the analysis, as they belong to group M01 — “Anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products.”