Pulmonologist: domestic tobramycin is needed by Russian patients

      The expert participated in a working meeting at the "Vostok" factory in the Kirov region, dedicated to the use of domestic tobramycin in pediatric and hospital practice. According to Nikitina, inhalation forms of the drug — solution and powder for inhalation — are of primary interest for respiratory medicine. Traditionally, tobramycin is used in the therapy of patients with cystic fibrosis. However, the specialist pointed out several other groups of patients for whom such therapy may potentially be in demand. In particular, it concerns patients with bronchiectasis — diseases accompanied by irreversible dilation of the bronchi. According to the data provided by Nikitina from Rosstat, there are just over 26,000 such patients registered in Russia. However, the actual prevalence of the disease may be significantly higher. Moreover, the number of identified patients is growing. Only from 2024 to 2025, according to the expert, the figure increased by more than 10%. Nikitina associates this, among other things, with improvements in diagnostics. "The number of patients requiring prolonged local anti-Pseudomonas therapy will grow," she noted. Another group is patients with severe COPD. A promising area for further study may be the use of tobramycin in some patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the data provided by Nikitina, today there are over 800,000 patients with COPD registered in Russia. In severe cases of the disease, approximately one-third of them have a Pseudomonas infection, and chronic shedding of the pathogen is observed in about 12%. At the same time, the expert emphasized that this area still needs to be researched. Currently, prolonged local anti-Pseudomonas therapy for such patients is not included in Russian clinical guidelines. According to her, the emergence of domestic production allows not only to provide patients with the necessary therapy but also to form a solid evidence base for the use of the drug. "This is fundamentally important for us." In response to a question about the significance of resuming domestic antibiotic production in Russia, Nikitina noted that 10–15 years ago, the possibilities for prolonged inhalation therapy were significantly more limited. "This is fundamentally important for us. If 10–15 years ago we could only dream of our patients actually receiving full-fledged prolonged inhalation therapy, now we can both practice this and continue to build our own evidence-based medicine," said the specialist. The full-cycle production of tobramycin has been restored at the "Vostok" enterprise in the settlement of Vostochny in the Kirov region. It includes the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients by biotechnological methods and the release of finished dosage forms.