"Era of Fusion"

Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Engineering at MIPT about a small revolution in Russian genetics

Ksenia Petrova, "The Future of Russia. National projects"

How COVID-19 helped the development of genetic technologies, why in the era of the development of the 5G network it is worth starting to think about 7G technology and how to attract investors in genetic projects, said the head of the Laboratory of Genomic Engineering of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) Pavel Volchkov.

The national project "Science" defines genetics as one of the main priorities and assumes the organization of at least three world-class centers until 2024. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin also pointed out the need to create opportunities in the country for breakthroughs in this area. Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Engineering of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) Pavel Volchkov in an interview with the portal "The Future of Russia. National Projects", operated by the TASS news agency, told why Russia needs to focus on projects at the intersection of genetics and IT and how COVID-19 provoked a push in the development of genetic technologies.

Projects at the intersection of technologies

– In one of your interviews, you said that large programs of state support for genetic technologies in Russia were initiated belatedly. Then does our country have any prospects of becoming a leader in this area?

– I would never have entered the race if we were obviously in a losing position. The situation with COVID-19 has shown that we can and are able to create technologies and startups that quickly scale into industrial forms. Therefore, no matter how badly they say about Russia – that we cannot keep up with someone and so on - it turns out that this is possible, in particular, in an emergency situation dictated by a pandemic. Look at how many rapid diagnostic tests we have done! This is the same genetics, yes, a little primitive and applied, but our technological genetic revolution begins with such micro-steps. This is what is already happening in Russia.

If we talk about the state funding program, it's better late than never. This is a necessary, though insufficient measure. For the further development of genetic technologies in Russia, it is very important to properly mobilize the resources spent on this direction.

– In your opinion, how should this be done?

– I highly do not recommend spending money on the invention of a bicycle that has already been developed and sold in millions of copies. I emphasize that we need technologies aimed at getting ahead of the curve. If we use the analogy with cellular communication in relation to genetics, then the plans should look like this: 5G networks have already been created, now we need to develop 6G with an eye on 7G.

We need to focus on creating products that do not yet exist on the market of genetic technologies, this is what will allow us to create something new - not only in Russia, but also in the world. This is important because investing in genetics now, it is necessary to give an impetus to the emergence and development of a new branch – the genetic and near-genetic industry, not science. The R&D component (research and development, R&D, – ed.) can be subsidized for life, and the created technologies should start earning money. Including for the country as a whole, making it possible to move from a raw material economy to a high-tech one.

In my opinion, it is important to invest public money in an accentuated manner so that it is a point investment, not a fan investment. This gives greater efficiency when creating a competitive product. The task is difficult, but it is precisely such tasks that a genetic program should set itself.

In addition, we need an organization that would at least partially risk its money. It can be a public-private fund or a private fund that invests part of its money. That is, public financing needs to be paired with private financing, because third-party investors cannot allow their money to go nowhere. It can also be a state fund, if it has clear indicators for the return of money. This in itself will prevent watering the desert with the hope that something will sprout there. Of course, a small share of altruistic financing is necessary, but the entire state program should not go for it, otherwise there will be no concrete results. For its part, the state in such a partnership will assume part of the risks to attract investors.

For example, in the USA, a system has been built with a clear entrance and exit for investors, there are investors of different levels: those who invest in high-risk projects at early stages, those who join a little later, and large investment companies, funds that enter at later phases. Such a system is also being created in Russia, but so far there is not enough investment stability. I recently heard the opinion of one of the investors: everything is cool in Russia, except for the unpredictability of the rules, which are constantly changing. It is necessary to establish rules and ensure that they will not change in the next 20-40 years. This is the key to success.

– How should investors be attracted to genetic projects?

– We in my group at MIPT have already realized that purely biomedical or biotechnological projects are extremely risky for investors. Investors are always more likely to participate in a project with a shorter payback period, since the level of risk in it is much less. And we have identified a certain transitional phase for ourselves. So, all investors understand the deadline for the implementation of an IT project. And we suggest both investors and the state to act within the framework of an understandable scheme of work with the launch of an IT project, because in genetics now the era of fusion, the era of big data, that is, a direction is developing where IT and classical genetics are combined. I am generally sure that the age of clean technologies is ending, the age of technologies on the verge is coming, which combine the interweaving of several disciplines. That is why we are now at MIPT focusing on such developments – for example, we have a machine learning project to create algorithms for recognizing correctly maturing retinas. Such projects have real deadlines, when in a year or two you can get a competitive product that is not yet on the market, and they are more attractive to investors.

Of course, this does not mean that we need to focus only on these products, but this is a transitional step to make it clear to both investors and officials that such projects can be implemented in principle, that they are quite realistic. Through fusion projects, we are building an intermediate bridge to large, difficult, expensive projects in the field of biomedicine and biotechnology, which investors are bypassing so far.

Breakthrough in genomic selection and disease control

– Which areas in the field of the use of genetic technologies are currently most actively developing in Russia?

– Russia has a real opportunity to bypass other countries and come out on top in terms of developments in the use of genetics for agriculture. In particular, huge investments have now been made in projects on genomic selection in animal husbandry. Solutions using big data and other IT tools are already being created, they are unique, and our team is directly related to them.

After the introduction of retaliatory sanctions, large Russian agricultural holdings faced problems when importing genetically valuable breeding animals. At the same time, their business began to develop intensively, and companies began to invest heavily in genetics. And what is interesting: what used to be the weak side of the domestic agro–industrial complex – when all stages from the cultivation of livestock feed to the slaughter of bulls were organized within one holding - has now turned into a big plus and made possible significant investments in genetic technologies, their development and adaptation. For comparison: in the USA, where a separate company is responsible for each area of activity in animal husbandry, there are no such opportunities, since market players do not have such significant amounts of funds.

It is much more difficult to compete in the field of using genetic technologies for medicine in Russia. After all, global companies from Big Pharma with a capitalization of under $1 trillion have virtually unlimited resources to invest in new developments. This is an unequal battle, which is why in the medical sector I advocate the creation of completely new solutions that the pharmaceutical giants have not yet attempted. These are the same fusion technologies, developments on the edge of industries, therapy based on genome editing. And such projects have already begun to appear in our country.

– What are genetic technologies aimed at in medicine?

– This is a fight against all diseases that you can only imagine. These are cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, autoimmune diseases, and, of course, orphan (rare) diseases, and even infectious diseases. These technologies are aimed at creating such developments that will be able to qualitatively improve our lives, move from the treatment of symptoms to the treatment of causes.

So, I hope that the pandemic situation will lead to a revolution in the treatment of SARS and influenza. What do we do when we are diagnosed with SARS? We sit at home and drink tea with raspberries. In fact, we have never fought such diseases. What did COVID-19 give us? This is the development of diagnostics, and most importantly – express diagnostics. Previously, pharmaceutical companies could not create a therapy for something that is not diagnosed. After all, if only a week later you find out what it was: bacterial, viral or mixed infection, then this information is no longer relevant for choosing a treatment method. On the other hand, the ability to make a diagnosis quickly with the help of an express test gives a green light to pharmaceutical manufacturers to create a whole set of drugs for the specific treatment of a particular disease. I hope that in the near future such diagnostics will be more and more "express", and if not in seconds, then at least in minutes we will be able to diagnose and immediately take the necessary drug.

The same direction of express diagnostics can be developed in relation to sexual infections. Imagine that possible sexual partners will be able to quickly check on each other for the presence of sexual infections before intimacy. Such an approach could simultaneously put an end to the problem of HIV infection.

– How is the direction of developing therapy for rare genetically determined diseases developing in Russia?

– There is a paradigm shift and a revision of Russia's attitude to the creation of genetic therapies, it becomes clear why this may be necessary. The fact is that genetic orphan diseases are by definition very rare, with a prevalence from 1 case per 10 thousand people to 1 case per 1 million, and so on. Previously, there were no specialized therapies at all for many of them, but recently, gene therapy drugs have begun to appear, which are very expensive.

For example, two injections of retinopathy medication (retinal lesion, – ed.) into the right and left eyes cost about $ 800 thousand, and the first four doses of the well–known "Spinraza" (the world's first drug for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, - ed.), which should be administered in the first year of treatment, – approximately $750 thousand .

The Ministry of Health of Russia is obliged to provide medicines to patients if they are on the market, and this becomes a serious problem, since with the development of the direction of genetic therapy, the authorities will have to spend a lot of money on the purchase of such drugs. And then what will be left to fight socially significant diseases, from which a much larger number of people suffer? After all, hundreds of gene therapy drugs are already undergoing clinical trials. To avoid the collapse of the healthcare system, we need to create our own gene therapy drugs. It turns out that we cannot help doing this, it is actually an arms race, otherwise we will completely depend on imports.

Another part of this question is genetic diagnosis. Before having children, all parents could calculate the probability of having a healthy child, weigh the risks of a genetic mutation. That is, it would be good to increase the level of your education in the field of genetics. Otherwise, we know a lot about how a coffee maker works, but we don't know anything about our device, about where certain diseases come from. With the help of genetic testing, you can, for example, check for compatibility of future parents and assess the risks of cancer and autoimmune diseases. This direction, educational, should also be given enough attention.

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