One year ago, on August 14, 2019, Nanolek LLC left the RUSNANO portfolio companies’ list.
For the period from 2011 to 2014, RUSNANO invested 1.28 billion roubles in NANOLEK. The yield at the time of the exit reached 8.6%.
Its independent year, part of which fell on a tough period of the pandemic turned out to be very productive for NANOLEK.
Let us summarize some data:
· In the autumn of 2019, NANOLEK began exporting its medicines to the foreign markets. The Company has registered three international generic medicines in Azerbaijan: antiallergic desloratadine Nalorius; also, Ramipril and Nebivolol, which are used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The Company plans to join the state purchases of Uzbekistan and Belarus.
· In October 2019, NANOLEK, together with Janssen, has launched a project to localize the production of Darzalex (daratumumab) in Russia, which is used in the treatment of multiple myeloma. It is the first human anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody approved for this type of disease.
· In October 2019, NANOLEK became one of the founders and a member of the Biopolis Research and Educational Centre (REC) in Kirov Region. The purpose of the REC creation is to develop the biopharmaceutical industry in the region and the domestic pharmaceutical market. The other members of the association were the NRC Kurchatov Institute and the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution FNTSIRIP named after M.P.Chumakov of the RAS.
At the end of 2019, the Company’s revenue increased by 60% and reached 7.5 billion roubles compared to 2018. The volume of the Company’s investments amounted to more than 500 million roubles. Profit reached 596 million. The Company transferred 100 million roubles as tax contributions to the budget of Kirov Region.
Vladimir Khristenko, President of NANOLEK: “I am thankful to our entire team for their enthusiasm to work towards results, develop new directions, and generate ideas. This period was difficult, but we are moving at an excellent pace, following the developed and approved strategy. Important agreements were signed, and on strategic partnerships, we entered new stages of cooperation in vaccine localization. I am certain that the financial results in 2020 will once again prove that the Company is on the right track.”
· In 2020, the NANOLEK site in Kirov Region was included in the federal list of backbone industries.
· In March 2020, NANOLEK concluded a strategic partnership agreement with the Efferon Company to bring to the market medical devices that can be used, among other things, in the treatment of acute respiratory infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The companies donated medical devices developed by them to the city hospital in Kommunarka and the Moscow State University Medical Centre to treat severe complications caused by coronavirus.
Anatoly Valetov, Head of the Moscow Innovation Cluster Foundation: “This year, NANOLEK became a member of the cluster. This opened new opportunities for the development and creation of cooperative projects in the field of biomedicine. The symbiosis of proactivity and innovation always entails a rapid breakthrough, demonstrated in the partnership with another member of the cluster - Efferon Company. With great interest, I watch the development of the project and the joint work of NANOLEK and Efferon. The companies are promoting smart technologies in the healthcare market and using them to fight the new coronavirus infection. Besides, representatives of NANOLEK take an active part as experts in the Moscow accelerator Biomedtech track - they held an expert session, at which they shared advice on further development with the accelerator’s participants. Thus, joining MIC, organizations expand their opportunities for cooperation with each other by implementing joint projects and joining the cluster’s initiatives.”
· In April 2020, a little investment enterprise Invac filed for registration the first domestic inactivated vaccine against poliomyelitis based on Sabin strains using the technology developed by the FNCIRIP named after M.P.Chumakov of the RAS.
· In May 2020, NANOLEK, in cooperation with NPK Kombiotech, launched a long-term project to produce an entirely domestic tetravalent vaccine, using patented technology, against human papilloma virus of four types (6, 11, 16, 18), which causes cervical cancer.
· In the same month, Sanofi and NANOLEK bottled validation series as part of the full cycle production of the five-component paediatric combination vaccine (FCPCV) Pentaxim® in Russia. Sanofi is the vaccine developer. At the NANOLEK site in Kirov, a study of the stability of three validation series of the FCPCV began with the participation of Sanofi representatives.
· In June 2020, NANOLEK has launched the first batch of hydroxychloroquine, which is included in the COVID-19 treatment regimens in the temporary guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the novel coronavirus infection.
· In the same month, the Company received a registration certificate from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus for five years for the socially significant medicine named Hunterase. Green Cross is the manufacturer of the medication.
“NANOLEK Company is only nine years old. It has been one year since it started operating independently, but it has already made some great successes. There are not many biopharmaceutical companies in Russia that are ready, and most importantly, able to interact within the framework of public-private partnerships. Our cooperation with NANOLEK is a powerful example of a successful collaboration between modern industrial production and a research and development enterprise. I am sure that our joint work in the field of modern domestic vaccines will contribute to import substitution, the expansion of the National Vaccination Schedule (NVS), and will create jobs for young workers, especially since we, together with NANOLEK, are members of the biotechnological and immunobiological scientific and educational centre BIOPOLIS, the decree on the creation of which was signed by the Governor of Kirov Region in October 2019”, said General Director of FGBNU FNTSIRIP named after M.P.Chumakov of the RAS Aidar Ishmukhametov.