New Institute of Biomedicine Might Appear in Ekaterinburg

12:49, July 15, 2019

The main purpose of the institute will be the development of pharmaceuticals

One of the projects that might appear from using the “heritage” of the Universiade-2023 is the creation of an institute of biomedicine. It is a cooperative project where Ural Federal University might collaborate with the Ural State Medical University, Institute of Organic Synthesis (Ural Division of the RAS) and other partners.

The main objective of the project is to create a world-class center in the field of future medicine in the Sverdlovsk region: personalized, informational, interdisciplinary, using the latest advances in technology. An obligatory element of this institute should be a university clinic. This was stated by the First Vice-rector of Ural Federal University Sergey Kortov at the International Industrial Trade Fair INNOPROM during the panel discussion “Creating New Pharmaceuticals: Looking for Growth Points”.

‘UrFU is continuing to work on the field of new pharmaceuticals development. After the decision on holding the Universiade in Ekaterinburg, there was an idea of using a part of the infrastructure that will be left after the competitions for development of biomedicine in the Urals. Right now, this question is being discussed, we’re working on those areas in the field, which will be relevant and in-demand in the dearest decades. It is important to fill this idea with real content,’ said Sergey Kortov.

UrFU’s First Vice-rector also noted that the main purpose that the new institute will be there to realize is conducting clinical trials, which take a lot of time and funds. The new institute could partially solve this important problem.

In the course of the discussion, Alexander Petrov, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, member of the Committee on Health Protection, chairman of the supervisory board of the Ural Biomedical Cluster, said that 20% of the Earth population fall ill with viral diseases during epidemics and 500,000 die from complications. There are also new viral strains emerging, many of which are unsusceptible to a number of drugs. A decrease in the immunity of people in cities also plays a negative role.

In turn, Valery Charushin, President of the Ural Division of the Academy of Sciences, Professor at the Department of Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry of the Institute of Chemical Engineering of Ural Federal University, pointed out the great difficulty of developing new drugs. So, when creating a modern drug from 10 thousand candidate molecules, only one reaches the pharmacy shelf. The price of developing and putting a pharmaceutical on the market can reach up to one billion dollars.

Reference

The Ural Chemical and Pharmaceutical School has very successful experience in developing highly effective pharmaceuticals. It was the Ural scientists who developed such well-known drugs as sulfidine, larusan, succimer, pefloxacin, levofloxacin, lysomustine and triazavirine.