Biomedicine in Skolkovo
A parade of biomedical projects within the framework of the conference
"Innovations in medical technologies"
To date, the Skolkovo biomedical cluster has registered more than 140 different startups in the field of systems biology, bioinformatics, biotechnology and in various fields of medicine. What are they – Skolkovo projects? As part of the event, a "Startup Parade" was organized, in which 10 initiatives of Russian scientists who applied for financial support from the Skolkovo Foundation were selected to participate. It should be said that "startup" is a word that is becoming more and more familiar to our ear and is gradually taking root in the Russian language. (In English, "start up" has several meanings – to jump up; to flinch; to arise; (unexpectedly) to appear; to grow rapidly. In this case, a startup means a knowledge-intensive project that can be quickly implemented and create an enterprise, production or a specific product that will generate income and pay off the investment.) The demonstrated works were heterogeneous and represented different stages of "entry" into the Skolkovo project. The task of the organizers, obviously, was to show the conference participants the startups of the biomedical cluster in all their diversity.
Some of them concerned the development of new medicines. So, Sergey Nikolenko from the company Synthegenics Pharmaceuticals talked about the results of 11 years of research conducted jointly with foreign scientists, as a result of which a cytotoxic drug of bacterial origin was obtained, which turned out to be quite effective in the fight against colorectal cancer. According to the head of this project, it takes one year and about 10 million rubles to bring the drug to the market.
Two reports were made by the head of MBF-8 and MBF-12 companies, Rahim Rosiev, who presented two "therapeutic molecules". One of them is a highly effective adjuvant for chemotherapy, i.e. it protects bone stem cells during irradiation and helps to suppress the process of metastasis of a cancerous tumor. As explained by Rahim Rosiev, this substance is already used in dietary supplements, in particular, in the treatment of infertility. It is assumed that this pharmaceutical company should appear on the market in 2 years. Another molecule should help with Alzheimer's disease, but the development is still at an earlier stage, and it will take more time to implement the project.
When developing new drugs, an urgent question arises about which biological models to test them on. Laboratory animals or their cell cultures are often used for these purposes. Sergey Kiselyov, Head of the Laboratory of Genetic Foundations of Cell Technologies at the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD, proposed to create a specialized human cell bank for testing medicinal substances. According to him, every year more than $ 8 billion spent on the development of medicines are wasted, because it often turns out at the last stages that the pharmaceutical substance is ineffective. If you test it specifically, for example, on cells of a certain tumor or carrying a mutation that is a sign of certain genetic changes and diseases, then you can understand whether there is a prospect, whether it is worth further studying the activity of the "candidate molecule" at the initial stages of the study, saving time, effort and money in this way. This project, according to Sergey Kiselyov, can be implemented by 2015.
The current project (in the light of the worldwide increase in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases) was presented by Shamil Akhmedov, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of Cardiology SB RAS (Tomsk), MD. In cooperation with Tomsk chemists, surgeons are looking for ways to combat atherosclerosis. A lot of nanoparticles synthesized in the laboratory were tested, until finally some of them were able to penetrate into the fatty atherosclerotic plaque and affect its structure. According to Shamil Akhmedov, these nanoparticles (based on iron oxide and carbon) "in vitro" demonstrate the ability to reduce the level of triglycerides and "bad" LDL cholesterol in the blood. Scientists plan to study the mechanism of action of nanoparticles in more detail. The most realistic prospect for them is the use of these particles as a coating for stent implants used in the "repair" of blood vessels damaged by the atherosclerotic process.
Two projects concerned equipment. In one of them, a modulation interference microscope (MIM) with high spatial resolution and speed characteristics was presented to study the properties of materials. The developer is Amfora Labs, Alexey Loparev presented the novelty. Another development is a biomechanical stimulator–simulator for the restoration of damaged muscles, created by BIOM-Volna. Project manager Markar Gasparov said that Samara scientists have already created a prototype, which is being tested at the Department of Restorative Medicine of Samara Medical University. The device can be used not only for biostimulation of neuromuscular tissues, but also for vacuum, anti-cellulite massage. During the two years during which the prototype was created, approximately 35 thousand dollars were spent. Scientists believe that in order to bring the development to the pre-production stage, approximately 170 thousand dollars will be required, with which they turned to the Skolkovo Foundation for help.
Three startups participated in the parade in the nomination "Information technologies in medicine". The head of one of them, iCare, Sergey Sedykh, offered a computer device (bracelet) for lonely elderly people, allowing relatives to remotely monitor their condition; Elena Dmitrieva, representing Text4Baby, offered an SMS service to monitor the involvement of adolescents in antisocial processes; graduates of the Faculty of Bioinformatics and Bioengineering of Lomonosov Moscow State University, who created Futureother under the leadership of Vita Stepanova, offer to unite pregnant women in a social network. According to Vita Stepanova, if pregnant women are sick of pickles, they could discuss these issues using the services of a specialized social network. Since, according to the authors of the project, the market of goods and services for pregnant women in Russia is approximately $ 3.2 billion, this social network could become very profitable.
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05.04.2012