In anticipation of the launch I of the All-Russian Pharmaceutical Run, we publish historical essays on the history of the development of the healthcare system and pharmacology in the cities participating in the large-scale action. Indeed, respect for traditions, support for the old school, the transfer of best practices and a healthy mentoring system are key to the development of a successful future. The pharmaceutical industry is no exception.
Author: historian, publicist Stanislav Chagin
The city on the Neva has always been famous for its medicine. And now, in comparison with other Russian cities, it stands at the highest level. And for good reason. Indeed, in the past, the role of the locomotive of progress was assigned to the northern capital, which, based on the achievements of European experience, is able to lead Russia along the path of prosperity and power.
Since Tsar Peter laid the foundation for Petersburg, primarily as an outpost in the north of Russia, the history of St. Petersburg health care begins with a naval medical institution, called the Admiralty State Hospital in the German manner or hospital, and began its work in 1715. It was the first naval medical institution not only for the city, but also for the country as a whole. He also for a long time remained the only school in the field of training naval medical personnel for the navy.
In 1780, the Obukhov hospital was opened, which was specially built for the townspeople and has been operating since 1779. It housed in six huts with sixty beds. It also included a house of charity for the insane. He became the first insane asylum in Petersburg. The famous Russian doctor Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov worked in the walls of the same hospital.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the opening of the first clinic in Russia, which has been operating to this day since 1850. She is known at number 81 and bears the name of a member of the royal family Maximilian Leuchtenberg. With regard to the value of clinics, the “clinic” itself originally meant the practice of doctors who had not yet completed their training.
Today, in the clinics of St. Petersburg, all diseases are treated. Separately, there are children’s clinics.
For St. Petersburg medicine and pharmacy, Antonina Lesnevskaya occupies a special place. This is the first female pharmacist in Russia. She opened in St. Petersburg the first female pharmacy on Nevsky Prospekt and with her a female pharmaceutical school. Despite major advances in society regarding women’s rights to work in such fields as education, medicine and pharmaceuticals, her example was disruptive and unusual for that time.
Today, medicine in St. Petersburg is at a high level, but also does not stand still and there is still a lot of work to improve ways to save, strengthen and save people’s lives and health. A huge contribution in this direction is made by the Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of the Eurasian Economic Union, under the leadership of Dmitry Alekseevich Chagin. St. Petersburg, according to him, is deservedly recognized as the pharmaceutical capital of Russia.
In 2018, three projects for the production of pharmaceutical substances and full-cycle drugs were launched in St. Petersburg. In the same year, the key market players – Polisan, Novartis and Geropharm companies launch new lines of existing production facilities. The Active Component and Baltpharm are completing the design and moving on to the next stage of reconstruction and construction of new plants. In 2019, Biocad plans to launch a unique production unit in the Neudorf Special Economic Zone (SEZ).