Analysis-Drugmakers look to help Ukrainians in drug trials after Russian invasion

FILE PHOTO: Men use sheets of plywood to cover windows of a hospital following shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine March 2, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi/File Photo

(Reuters) - The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left drugmakers scrambling to find ways for patients enrolled in clinical trials there to receive their medicines as millions seek shelter from bombardment and flee to neighboring countries.

Ukraine, as well as Russia, have become important countries for studying new drugs because patients there have a dire need for medicines to treat cancer, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders. Russia and surrounding countries account for 10% of people in clinical trials, analysts estimate.