Agrochemists will heal the nerves – Newspaper Kommersant No. 154 (7355) of 08/24/2022

The Russian pharmaceutical market attracts investors from other industries. Thus, Shchelkovo Agrokhim, a large manufacturer of plant protection products and seeds, plans to invest 2.5 billion rubles. in the creation in the Moscow region of the production of drugs for the treatment of diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Experts warn that drug production is a competitive market, and the launch of new enterprises is complicated by problems with importing equipment and consumables.

One of the largest manufacturers of plant protection products and seeds, Schelkovo Agrohim, will produce medicines, Salis Karakotov, general director and main owner of the company, told Kommersant. We are talking about creating a full-cycle production – from the synthesis of active substances to the production of finished dosage forms. Schelkovo Agrohim will rely on drugs for the treatment of diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. According to Mr. Karakotov, the company is also studying the production of immunomodulators – analogues of well-known drugs created using its own synthesis technologies.

The production of Schelkovo Agrohim medicines will be located in the Dubna SEZ in the Moscow region. According to the regional government, one of its residents is Betaren Pharma LLC Alexander Burmistrov, who owns shares in the structures of Schelkovo Agrokhim. At the end of 2021, Schelkovo Agrokhim acquired in the Dubna SEZ for 860 million rubles. the building of the bankrupt printed circuit board manufacturer Svyaz Engineering KB.

According to Salis Karakotov, it is planned to invest 2.5 billion rubles in the new project. He expects the launch of drug production in early 2023. According to Mr. Karakotov’s forecasts, the sales volume of the pharmaceutical company will reach 5–10 billion rubles in two years. in year. “We are a chemical company, and we have accumulated developments in technologies for the synthesis of substances that can become very popular,” he explains the interest in the new business. Andrey Sizov, director of Sovecon, notes that in terms of R&D, the directions have intersections, as evidenced by the examples of Bayer, a large manufacturer of plant protection products and medicines, and Syngenta, which was formed on the basis of a division of Novartis.

Shchelkovo Agrohim is not the first example when players from completely third-party industries enter the Russian pharmaceutical market, says Nikolai Bespalov, RNC Pharma Development Director. For example, he says, Oleg Zherebtsov, founder of the Lenta chain of stores, created Solopharm, a drug manufacturer, in 2010, and Dmitry Morozov, a former banker, founded Biocad. According to Mr. Bespalov, the interest in new investors is understandable, since the pharmaceutical business was not affected by the direct sanctions of Western countries, in addition, the demand for medicines remains stable. Thus, according to DSM Group, the turnover of the pharmaceutical market in the first half of 2022 increased by 21%, to 1.33 trillion rubles. year by year. Finally, Schelkovo Agrokhim may indeed have a certain level of necessary technical competencies, adds Nikolai Bespalov.

But, RNC Pharma warns, the pharmaceutical market in Russia has already taken shape, competition is high here, and the main task of new players is to build up the sale of drugs. In addition, Mr. Bespalov says, an additional problem for new projects may be the difficulties associated with the supply of equipment, auxiliary substances and components that the industry faced (see Kommersant on June 8) against the backdrop of the crisis after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. As Kommersant’s interlocutors noted, modern equipment for the pharmaceutical industry is almost not produced in the country.

Polina Gritsenko