Putin"s Midas Touch

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin checking the prices at a 36.6 pharmacy store in Murmansk on Saturday, April 17. During his visit to Murmansk on Saturday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin demonstrated his concern for the people by “spontaneously” popping into a pharmacy unannounced to see if Arbidol flu medicine was available and at what price. Putin’s Arbidol visit was broadcast throughout the day and evening on national television news programs, which will surely boost the product’s sales more than the best advertising campaign could ever do. Arbidol is made by Pharmstandard, with headquarters in the Moscow region. Why did Putin act as an advertising agency for the company, going out of his way in Murmansk to mention Arbidol by name? Here is a short chronology of events behind Arbidol’s miraculous success: On March 16, 2007, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences demanded that Arbidol be removed from the list of drugs that are purchased by the government in large quantities based on its conclusion that it is “an obsolete drug with unproven effectiveness.” On Sept. 24, 2007, Tatyana Golikova was appointed health and social development minister. In 2008, Arbidol became the best-selling medicine in the country, with sales of 2.4 billion rubles ($82 million), representing 1.3 percent of Russia’s pharmaceuticals market. In 2009, Russian television and the government helped fuel an unprecedented panic over the risk of contracting swine flu. This turned into a real bonanza for Arbidol. Even Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service,