OREANDA-NEWS. July 14, 2010. The Supervisory Council of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies, RUSNANO, has approved the corporation’s investment in a project to develop and commercialize domestic innovative pharmaceuticals. The budget for the project totals 5.1 billion rubles of which RUSNANO will invest up to 1.2 billion rubles in equity of the project company. Project revenue in 2015 is forecasted at 1.1 billion rubles and during the period 2017–2019, 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion rubles.

The applicant for the project is the ChemRar high-tech center, a non-governmental R&D complex and business incubator, a unique entity for Russia.

ChemRar will transfer to the project company five innovative drug candidates that are in clinical and preclinical trials. These promising pharmaceuticals are for treatment of AIDS, hepatitis C, diseases of the central nervous system, and pancreatic cancer. To lower investment risks, the project company will add to its portfolio ten other drug candidates developed in Russia and abroad.

“Development of Russia’s pharmaceuticals industry—or, more precisely, its revival—is a formidable challenge, and yet the country has no choice,” said RUSNANO CEO Anatoly Chubais. “It is a matter of public health and national prestige. We have an opportunity to draw smart money into the Russian economy. RUSNANO is one of only a few investors capable of carrying the risks associated with such projects.”

Imported drugs currently make up 80 percent of the Russian pharma market while innovative pharmaceuticals of domestic origin constitute not more than one percent. Imported drugs are used to treat most cardiovascular, oncological, and infectious diseases as well as disorders of the central nervous system and other pathologies. These are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in Russia and worldwide. In global pharmaceutical sales, Russian drugs account for no more than 0.04 percent.

“The project is aimed not only at developing Russian innovative pharmaceuticals but also at forming the industry’s export potential. Drug candidates that prove to be efficient and safe through clinical trials will be licensed out to foreign partners for launching in global markets,” explained RUSNANO Director on Infrastructure Programs Tatiana Nikolenko.