Kazakhstan removes price controls from 1,212 medicines

September 14, 2026 at 09:00 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Kazakhstan's Health Ministry removed 1,212 medicines from the state price-control list, cutting the regulated list from 3,039 to 1,827 items. The order, dated September 4, 2026, replaces the previous list entirely and adds only 9 new positions. The move affects immunosuppressants, oncology drugs, and some insulin brands, while original biologic brands remain regulated.

Key Facts

The regulated medicines list fell from 3,039 to 1,827 items, removing 1,212 positions.
The order adds only 9 new positions, including the oncology drug Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan).
All 14 registered tacrolimus products, including Advagraf, Prograf, and Pangraf, were removed from price control.
Insulin detemir (Levemir) and human NPH insulin (Protaphane NM, Humodar) were excluded, while newer analog insulins remain on the list.
Original biologic brands Avastin and MabThera remain regulated, but their biosimilars from BIOCAD and KFK were removed.

Regulatory Change

The Ministry of Health issued Order No. 105 on September 4, 2026, replacing the previous list of medicines subject to state price regulation. The new list contains 1,827 items, down from 3,039, a reduction of 1,212 positions. The order adds only 9 new positions, including Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), an expensive oncology drug now placed under control. The previous revision, Order No. 394 of June 18, 2025, reduced the list from 6,060 to 5,408 items, making the current cut significantly larger.

Affected Medicines

All 14 registered tacrolimus products, an immunosuppressant for transplant patients, were removed, including Advagraf, Prograf, and Pangraf. All 14 losartan products, including KLOSART, were also excluded from price control. Specialized orphan and oncology drugs removed include Vyndamax (tafamidis), VPRIV (velaglucerase alfa), and Tabrecta (capmatinib). Insulin detemir (Levemir) and human NPH insulin (Protaphane NM, Humodar) were excluded, while newer analog insulins such as Lantus, Humalog, Tresiba, and NovoRapid remain on the list.

Biosimilar Impact

Original biologic brands Avastin (bevacizumab) and MabThera (rituximab) from Roche remain under price control. Their more affordable biosimilars—Bevacizumab (BIOCAD), Acellbia (BIOCAD), and Rituximab (KFK)—were removed from the regulated list. The Ministry of Health did not disclose the criteria used to select positions for deregulation in the order itself.