Concerning the claim in the question headline: it might be difficult to properly define "very little", compare that to Western medicine. Then start an argument about what counts statistically as…
Thankfully such claimants are inclined to use the absolute.
"during the USSR's 70 years of existence, no new תרופה [i.e. cure/medication] was developed".
(Emphasis mine.)
A single counter example is sufficient to disprove this claim.
Phenazepam
Phenazepam (also known in Russia as bromdihydrochlorphenylbenzodiazepine) is a benzodiazepine drug, which was developed in the Soviet Union in 1975
But why stop there?
D. B.Jackand & N.P.Mason: "The Pharmaceutical Industry in the U.S.S.R.", Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (1987) 12,401-407
It would be a mistake, however, to give the impression that there is nothing new to say about the Soviet pharmaceutical industry. […] In October, 1985, The
Times reported the recent discovery by Soviet scientists of a polymer, Feracryl, designed to replace oil in tempering processes, that proved to be a very potent haemostatic agent. Very few side-effects were observed. […]
Further examples from drugs developed in the USSR:
Gramicidin S – Bromantane – Corvalol – Feprosidnine – Fluacizine – Gidazepam – Latrepirdine – Meldonium – Mesocarb – Phenazepam – Phenibut – Phenylpiracetam – Picamilon – Pipofezine – Sulfozinum – Arabinopyranosyl-N-methyl-N-nitrosourea – Anthrax vaccines
Some of these have very interesting cultural characteristics:
Mesocarb (brand names Sidnocarb, Sydnocarb) is a stimulant drug which was developed in the USSR in the 1970s. […] Mesocarb is almost unknown in the western world and is neither used in medicine or studied scientifically to any great extent outside Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union. It has however been added to the list of drugs under international control and is illegal in most countries, despite its multiple therapeutic applications and reported lack of significant abuse potential.
(Cited from the above Wikipedia article.)
Before the seventies the general outlook of contemporary competitors was the exact opposite of the current wholesale dismissal:
"The Pharmaceutical Century – Ten Decades of Drug Discovery": The perceived “science gap” between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the 1958 National Defense Education Act.
Just some general hints from Wikipedia:
Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky)
Nikolai Kravkov
Gavriil Ilizarov
Alexander A. Maximow
Gene pool
Kidney transplantation
Acoustic microscopy
Vladimir Demikhov
Modern synthesis (20th century)
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Phage therapy
Georgy Gause
Electron paramagnetic resonance
Heart–lung transplant
Vladimir Demikhov
Lung transplantation
Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction
Anthropometric cosmetology
Ilizarov apparatus
Radial keratotomy
Svyatoslav Fyodorov
