Once again about synthetic peptides, Pharma Bio and personally Comrade V. Deigine

Synthetic peptides will be given a start in life in Skolkovo
Interview with CEO of Pharma Bio Vladislav DeiginVladislav Deygin, CEO of Pharma Bio, told Business FM about how his company became a participant in the Skolkovo project, what funding was provided to it for the development of new generation medicines, as well as about the future of drugs based on synthetic peptides.

– The goal of your project is to develop a new generation of drugs based on synthetic peptides. For people far from pharmaceuticals, the phrase "synthetic peptides" sounds intimidating and makes you feverishly recall a school chemistry and biology course. What is it? What is the innovation of these drugs?

– Such terrible synthetic peptides are one of the most modern directions of biotechnology. Today, two main strategic directions compete with each other – these are genetically engineered proteins and synthetic proteins and peptides. Peptides are fragments of proteins, that is, they are what we have in the body. We just get them synthetically, chemically. Our project is aimed at creating a new generation of such drugs. We have offered a whole line of drugs that are at various stages of development. We now hope that we will conduct research on multiple sclerosis and other very serious diseases, against which there are currently no effective drugs.

The drug, which has just received the status of registered, is a drug with a unique mechanism of action that stimulates its own hematopoietic stem cells. It should help patients after chemotherapy, cancer patients, after radiation exposure, generally strengthens the vital forces of the body. One of the drugs, we hope, will be useful for the treatment of alcoholism, it will relieve the syndrome of alcoholic attraction. There is another drug – this is a stress protector, which allows you to relieve anxiety, a state of tension.

And the last drug. We hope to receive a special vaccine for the immunoprophylaxis of Alzheimer's disease. This is a balanced line of drugs from five compounds. This development was proposed to the Skolkovo Foundation, the investment committee liked it, we were accepted as residents of Skolkovo and even given a grant for these works.

– Was it difficult to get a grant in Skolkovo?

– It was very intensive work, 20 hours a day. But there was also a very favorable environment, assistance from all the staff of the foundation in helping our scientists. So all these difficulties went not unnoticed, but, as they say, with minimal losses.

– Was there no traditional Russian bureaucracy in your case?

– It wasn't. Of course, there were no problems at all, because we were the first. Lawyers demanded one thing, the law on Skolkovo demanded another, analysts said that something else was needed. And we constantly, right in the process, processed documents, people sat for days and nights in order to make the right business plan, the right description and patent protection, and put it all together. There was no bureaucracy, there was mutual understanding, and this is very important. This is one of the rare moments in my 25-year business and scientific activity when there was a complete mutual understanding.

– The Skolkovo Foundation has allocated you funding of 675 million rubles. Is this a sufficient amount?

– We have received this money so far on the terms of a grant, but during the three-year period for which the money was issued, we are also obliged to attract third-party investors. Enough or not enough – judge for yourself: world practice today says that it takes from 7 to 10 years and at least half a billion dollars to develop one drug. Therefore, the next stage, when we will commercialize all this, is impossible without the participation of serious investors and, perhaps, serious international partners specializing in biotechnology.

– At what stage will partners be involved?

– It is necessary to carry out initial work on finding investors today, and we are doing this. I think that already in 2012 we should conclude a serious partnership contract. And then either go with him or look for additional investors, because each next phase requires much more money than the previous one. Of course, it reduces the risks for investors, but at the same time the price of the issue increases. In total, I think it will take about one and a half billion rubles, which is still incomparable with the initial investment of any big pharma in a project for one drug. But since we have a balanced portfolio, by 2013 we hope that at least two of our drugs will be sold and generate income, at least in the Russian market. This will increase the capitalization, the value of our company will increase.

– How are you going to convince investors in terms of profit? By now, you probably already have some kind of rough outline of how much you can earn on the project. Say, having invested one dollar, what will be the return from it?

– Here we have calculations made up of standard accepted methods. If we occupy a niche of about 5-7% for each disease, this will allow us to receive from 500 to 600 dollars in profit for every dollar invested today in 7-10 years. Such are the returns in biotechnology.

– But are the risks the same?

– The risks are at the current stage. The statistics are as follows: out of 10 thousand molecules that are in synthesis by specialists, only one reaches registration. We have already selected all these thousands, we are already at a much lower risk stage, but there are still risks. Although we have two drugs already registered, two drugs went to the clinic. That is, we have already passed the risks of preclinical research, and this is an additional plus for investors. We have developments, we have a patent, we have international publications, we feel confident in the sense that we do not catch a black cat in a dark room.

– Considering that global corporations are engaged in similar developments, are you not afraid of such competition?

– With our peptide preparations, we are not afraid of it. Moreover, we compete all over the world. If we consider the situation of the world market of peptide medicines, about 60 peptide medicines have been registered today, 14 of them have been created in our country. Of these 14 – 5 drugs were created on the basis of our institute. We are not afraid of competition, we just want it.

– What scheme of monetization of your developments do you suggest? Will you set up the production of these drugs yourself or patent drugs, and then just sell these patents?

– We are considering several schemes. Our priorities will be as follows: we bring the drug to the most distant stage at the expense of our own funds that we have. If we see that these funds are not enough, we try to invite partners, say, big pharma, which will establish production with us or under our licenses in Russia and provide primarily the Russian market. And then, in parallel with them, we will enter the international market, because we have patent protection in the largest countries: in the USA, Europe, Japan, Australia.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru27.05.2011