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The 7th International Conference "Pharmaceutical Business in Russia 2012: Era of Change" was opened on February 6, 2012, in the conference center of Swissotel. The law firm VEGAS LEX became a partner of the conference and took an active part in organizing the event as well as providing the content. The program of the first day of the conference included questions related to the state regulation of the industry, OTC and generic market, specifics of Rx drugs and innovative products, main trends and forecasts for the industry. Leading professionals, heads of pharmaceutical companies, were engaged in the debates on the pressing issues. The first day of the conference ended with a "no ties" evening reception. Among the participants, whose number according to the official sources amounted to 250 people, were representatives of the state authorities, industry associations, public organizations, as well as chief executives of Russian and international pharmaceutical manufacturers, representatives of pharmacy chains and distributors - participants from CIS and other countries. On the first day of the conference key representatives of the industry discussed strategic objectives for the coming year: the concept of reference pricing for the vital medicine, possible models for drug insurance, "Pharma 2020" strategy, and others. During the plenary session Alexander Sitnikov, Managing Director and Partner at VEGAS LEX, brought up the topic of upcoming changes in procurement legislation and spoke about risks and opportunities during this transition period. In addition, Alexander performed a part of a legal second in a pharmaceutical sparring between CEO of CV "Protek" and Vice President of Development of "ROSTA" Group. The focus of the second day of the conference was on the regulatory aspects of the pharmaceutical business. The speakers presented information about a new edition of the Federal Law "On the Fundamentals of Public Health in the Russian Federation", the third antimonopoly package and its impact on the pharmaceutical market. They discussed the problem of information security and intellectual property protection. Head of Commercial Practice at VEGAS LEX, raised a very important issue of government regulation of pricing and highlighted the new principles of ZHVNLP list. At the end of his speech, he stressed the need to find innovative ways to ensure profitability of business, and advised retailers to sign cooperation agreements with producers in order to minimize the cost of procurement and delivery of drugs from ZHVNLP list. Alexander Sitnikov, Managing Director and Partner at VEGAS LEX said: "The conference this year was very interactive and interesting, due the active role of the participants, which allowed us all to discuss pressing issues in great detail." The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Vladimir Shipkov considered the event to be of a great value, also taking into account the venue "which allowed market players, representatives of the expert, public, and state authorities to communicate, openly exchange their views, be engaged, and seek the most appropriate solutions for the complex issues that the industry faces now."