From January to April 2025, Russians purchased antidepressants worth over 5.8 billion rubles (at retail prices, including VAT) on the retail market, which is 36% more than in the same period last year. According to the database “Audit of retail sales of medicines in Russia (total sell out)” from the analytical company RNC Pharma, over four months, more than 7 million packages of N06A group medicines — antidepressants and mood stabilizers — were sold, with sales increasing by 21% in packages over the year. In total, over 19 million packages of antidepressants were purchased at retail in 2024, amounting to 14.4 billion rubles. The upward trend in demand in this category has been observed for several years in a row. Compared to 2023, sales increased by 20.2% in volume and 35.9% in monetary terms.

Demand for antidepressants remains roughly the same throughout the year, but there are periodic spikes in sales. Last year, such peaks were observed in spring and autumn, but the highest figures were recorded in December, when the population purchased 1.9 million packages worth 1.5 billion rubles, which exceeded spending on these medicines in December 2023 by 39%, while actual consumption during this period increased by 23%. However, in April of this year, spending exceeded December's figures (1.6 billion rubles). Compared to April 2024, sales of antidepressants increased by 36.5% in rubles and by 21.6% in packages.

According to the results of the first four months of 2025, 79 brands were represented in retail. Almost 25% of spending in this group was accounted for by medicines with the INN escitalopram, including the absolute leader in the category, Cipralex from the Danish company H. Lundbeck (11% share). The Italian product Trittico from Angelini retains second place (10.2%). Velaxin from Egis (part of Servier) rounds out the top three in the ranking, accounting for 8.9% of sales by value.

All of the top ten brands in the period under review showed double-digit growth in both ruble and volume terms. The highest growth was recorded for Duloxenta (KRKA), with spending on this brand increasing by 70% over the year and volume consumption growing by 44%. Another notable brand is Venlafaxine, which was sold by three manufacturers during the period under review. Compared to January-April 2024, the brand's cumulative growth was +60.9% in rubles and +32.4% in packages. Another medicine worthy of attention is Zoloft, manufactured by the American company Viatris. After temporary supply disruptions in 2022-2023, the medicine's availability was restored, and in 2024, Zoloft's sales volumes increased almost fourfold compared to the previous year, both in rubles and in packages. At the end of the first four months of this year, the growth rate was +59.2% in monetary terms and +41.6% in volume terms.

Interestingly, when it comes to antidepressants, there's still a lot of demand for the original medicines, even though there are tons of direct Russian and foreign analogs on the market. For example, under the INN, there are nine other products besides Cipralex for escitalopram, eight manufacturers for fluvoxamine generics, and seven companies besides Viatris for sertraline.

Table. Top 10 antidepressant brands (group N06A – according to the EphMRA classification) by cash sales volume in the Russian retail pharmaceutical market in January-April 2025