How will the biotech market develop in Russia

On the way to bioeconomics

What is happening in Russia

NanoServ Company, winner of the Cleantech GenerationS track-2014The technology of the Krasnodar company "NanoServ" allows you to clean pipes with the help of special lactic acid bacteria.

They simply eat away the industrial scale and leave the pipes and equipment clean and undamaged. As a result of the work of bacteria, the permeability of pipes increases, and electricity consumption is halved. The founder and CEO of NanoServ, Elena Levina, for several years brought the business of cleaning heating systems and industrial thermal equipment to an annual turnover of over 100 million rubles.

"Green" biotech

Dinara Baubekova, microbiologist engineer, participant of the BiotechMed GenerationS track-2015:In Russia, there are few real achievements in the field of agrobiotechnologies and in the production of environmentally friendly crop production.

The most common method of crop protection is the use of special chemical plant protection products that poison the soil, the environment and the food itself.

Microbiological methods of plant protection from diseases and pests have been actively developing in the last few years. Our team is developing such a tool – a microbiological biopreparation of complex action that protects crops from fungi, increases yields, improves the condition and fertility of soils.

The prototype of our biological product has been undergoing testing in real conditions in the fields of our strategic partner for four years. Potential consumers are agricultural holdings, farms, private summer residents and gardeners. Sales channels include distribution through garden centers and networks of fertilizer sellers./APPROX

How will the biotech market develop in Russia

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Deputy General Director, Member of the Management Board of RVC:The biotech revolution continues.

There are more and more new tools concerning not only classical biotechnologies, implying the production of any drugs, substances or materials, but also directly transforming existing life - changing a person, changing living beings, and so on. The segment is rapidly developing, and an increasing number of investors and companies are beginning to master it and develop their presence in this area. The main trend is the emergence of an increasing number of new drugs or new biological objects that are needed for medicine. 

In Russia, the field of biotechnology is not yet well developed and, I would even say, conservatively. Most of the Russian biotechnologies are not looking boldly enough into the future. The simplest example is synthetic biotechnologies. Almost all the leading countries of the world have staked on this technological layer, but in Russia they have not yet begun to "unpack" it. 

In order to return the Russian scientific and technological agenda at least to the level of global trends, NTI is working (National Technological Initiative, long-term strategy of technological development of Russia, the project office for the implementation of which is RVC – approx. author). The task is to extend the private solutions of the markets to the entire scientific and technological policy as a whole, to put trends at the level of their priority all over the world. 

Olga Babkina, Deputy Vice-Rector for Research at Tomsk State University, BiotechMed GenerationS Track:One of the trends in the biotech market is the use of genetically modified bacterial strains for the biotechnological production of substances and materials (for example, biodegradable polymers, antifreeze, detergents).

It is very good if at the same time something with a minimum cost (some waste) is taken and turns into a valuable product for life or industry. 

The second trend I would note is feed, probiotics and everything related to animal husbandry. The third trend is plant protection products, fertilizers and other substances that make it possible to use natural resources more efficiently and grow more high–quality crops. I think in the future synthesized food, biodegradable containers and packaging, household substances obtained by biotechnological means will become familiar to us. 

Roman Titov, expert of the "Regional Center for Biotechnology Engineering of the Republic of Tatarstan":In the field of biotechnology, there are two global areas that are most relevant for modern society: health (including ecology and waste) and food production.

The main applied tasks, as before, will be formulated in these areas. 

A relatively new topic will be the more active development of interdisciplinary areas – for example, the synthesis of chemistry and biotechnology, medicine and biotechnology of food production, biotechnology and information processes. There are many points of intersection that will give a synergistic effect. Therefore, bacteria that produce electricity, or food in the form of pills, are likely to remain exotic. 

If we talk about the development of biotech in Russia, there is a difficulty here. Today we do not know for sure the extent of the achievements of Soviet science, which we inherited. Taking into account the achievements of world science, it is even more difficult to predict how applied technologies will develop in our country. I am sure that Russia will clearly fit into the two directions that I outlined above – health and nutrition. Russia has significant groundwork in both directions. 

In addition, for the development of biotechnological industries in the field of food and agriculture, our country has significant undeveloped renewable resources. 

Tatiana Sanina, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Director of Business Administration of the Oleochemical Business Department of EFKO Group:A very promising direction in agrotechnology is the replacement of chemical plant protection products with biological ones.

In the last 40-50 years, we have really played with chemical plant growth stimulants, pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, and so on, and often these were already obsolete agrochemicals. Unfortunately, this is often a consequence of the fact that in Russia farmers simply do not know how to properly grow a particular plant in this particular area. Not the fertilizers that are really needed on this type of soil are added, but those that are more accessible, while often exceeding the permissible dosages. So it is important not just to replace old technologies with new and safer ones, but also to improve the culture of agricultural technologies, create local information centers that will accumulate knowledge for farmers applicable in this particular place.

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