Three new Tomsk medicines found potential investors

TOMSK, Oct 15 – RIA Tomsk. Potential investors got interested in three new Tomsk medicinal developments. About new drugs and about cooperation of residents of Tomsk with the Russian producers of medicines – in material of RIA Tomsk.

Working meeting of developers of medicines with the leading pharmaceutical enterprises of Russia took place last week in Tomsk. Siberian State Medical University (SSMU) and Engineering Chemical Technological Сenter of Tomsk State University (ECTC TSU) acted as organizers of the event.

Representatives of the leading Russian medical and pharmaceutical companies – "R-Pharm" (Moscow), Pharmzashchita of FMBA of Russia (Moscow), Pharmasyntez (Irkutsk), Kemerovo Pharmaceutical Factory, Organica (Novokuznetsk) and others participated in the working meeting.

Life injections

Head of Technology Implementation Center of SSMU Artem Guryev presented the drugs developed in the university to representatives of pharmaceutical companies at the meeting. Some of them already passed preclinical tests. Industrial partners are necessary for transition to the following stage – clinical.

"Risks of non-return of the capital are high before conduct of clinical trials. However several companies requested reports and detailed information on three drugs – to Polistan, Prefatenz and Holestan, – Guryev reported to RIA Tomsk following the results of the meeting, without having specified what companies showed interest in the Tomsk drugs.

Guryev explained that "Polistan" is an injection agent increasing efficiency of chemotherapy. It allows to lower a course dose of chemotherapeutic agents and toxic load of an organism, at the same time keeping their therapeutic effect.

According to him, preclinical trials showed very high efficiency of drug. Conduct of clinical trials, planned for 2018-2020, requires 35 million rubles.

The same amount is necessary for clinical trials of the medicine Prefatenz – new agents for lowering of arterial blood pressure. Developers emphasize that it provides long-term normalization of arterial blood pressure of hypertensive patients, and direct analogs of the Tomsk medicine on the action mechanism don't exist in Russia and in the world.

The third drug – Holestan – reduces cholesterol level in a blood, preclinical trials on it still proceed.

It is necessary to change

Scientists not only told potential partners how their developments are fine and unique, but also "gave the market calculation".

For example, preliminary estimate of volume of solvent demand for new hypertensive drug in Russia showed that the approximate number of solvent consumers is 20-22 million people. That is market size in kind is not less than 20 millions packages a year. At the cost of one packing of drug of 400 rubles annual market size will be 8 billion rubles.

"The format of last meeting used in practice for the first time differs in it. Usually conferences are pathos speeches and reports. Here we spoke business language. Business earns money, it needs a reality. We told about those activities which can be interesting to the companies", – the rector of SSMU Olga Kobyakova explained RIA Tomsk.

She also reported that colleagues from Kemerovo Pharmaceutical Factory agreed to act as partners in the strategic project of the Tomsk region "Laboratory of Health". Besides, residents of Kemerovo are ready to invest in training of students of last years, to accept them for practice, and after obtaining the diploma – for work.

"Directors of pharmaceutical companies said to us that productions change technologically so quickly that you (universities) aren't in time behind it, and what you teach to, isn't relevant any more. We agreed that we request from them those competences, which are necessary to production, and we build educational modules under them. We should be flexible, to change quickly, and we will do it", – Kobyakova told.

Turn-key medicine

Many participants of the meeting, including the large company R-Pharm, got interested in the fact that residents of Tomsk are ready to work on outsourcing.

"We can develop … a full cycle – from scratch to the finished dosage form. Producers look for the new ideas for the market constantly. They can buy ready substances abroad for production of generic (analog), but someone has to work the technology in Russia. Often this process is dragged out for 2-3 years instead of 6-7 months which we need in Tomsk", – the head of ECTC TSU Alexey Knyazev told.

He cited as an example collaboration with Novokuznetsk JSC Organica : residents of Tomsk had been working on the production technology of generic analgesic since March, in October it has been transferred to the customer.

ECTC developed all "road map" of the project, having acted as "a uniform window" for the customer. The technology of a ready dosage form was made in Technology Implementation Center of SSMU, the development of the complex of the analysis techniques – in laboratory of physical and chemical methods of the analysis of TSU, preclinical researches are conducted now by scientific research institute of pharmacology.

"Technology is in the process of transfer to the plant, preclinical and clinical tests will go further. We understood that it isn't necessary to go to Moscow: we reduce risks through the engineering center in Tomsk, having given stages of drugmaking to professionals, and we receive a ready decision therefore we plan to continue cooperation", – the head of development department of JSC Organica Zuyfera Podsevalova noted following the results of the meeting.