Parliament to propose measures to combat biothreats

As it became known to Vedomosti, the joint commission on the parliamentary investigation of the activities of American biological laboratories in Ukraine, created in March 2022, has completed and will soon present the results of its work. The results will be discussed by the State Duma Committee on Control on April 7, a source on Okhotny Ryad told Vedomosti and confirmed by the first deputy chairman of this committee, Dmitry Gusev. This will be only the first discussion of the document, the Vedomosti source says, it will be presented at the plenary session of the lower house of parliament on April 11, and it will be heard in the Federation Council on April 12.

Another Vedomosti interlocutor in the State Duma says that the report will probably be published after it is presented at the plenary session. On the basis of the report, the State Duma may adopt an appeal to the parliaments of other countries, he adds. In addition, as Vedomosti wrote earlier, the issue of biological safety is now on the agenda of the work of the Council of Legislators, which will be held on April 26-27 in St. Petersburg with the participation of President Vladimir Putin. Vedomosti sent a request to the press service of the lower house.

Excerpts from the report are divided into six main parts, three deputies who read the document told Vedomosti. These are “The nature of modern biothreats”, “US offensive military biological program”, “US military biological activities in the post-Soviet space”, “US military biological activities in Ukraine”, “Measures at the national level”, “Measures at the international level” . The rationale for the preparation of the report was the information obtained during the speeches of the heads of federal departments and scientific organizations, evaluation of documents obtained during the military operation, interviews of experts, including those who worked in Ukraine, etc., Vedomosti’s interlocutors say.

The main focus of the report is on the intensification of US biomedical activities in the post-Soviet space, Vedomosti’s interlocutors say. For example, they point out, biological laboratories are being modernized according to American standards, and attempts are being made to take national sanitary and epidemiological services under total control. In all laboratories created by the United States, there are specialists with dipimmunity, whose work is of a “closed nature”.

The centralization of national collections of pathogen strains allows the United States to access them, says the source of Vedomosti. This, in turn, simplifies their export to the United States. Taking biomaterials from local citizens, “both healthy and infected”, sending them to US research centers “for in-depth study” allows you to select the most dangerous pathogens for the local population and enhance their properties.

“In other words, the Americans are preparing for a “biological war” at the Russian borders,” one of the deputies explains. They conduct a “targeted collection” of pathogens of especially dangerous infectious diseases. This allows you to study the reactions of the immune system of the local population and adapt to them, he says.

Apparently, the parliamentary commission came to the conclusion that the former republics of the USSR are preparing for the deployment of large US military groups. And in some post-Soviet countries, the United States is focused on studying the possibilities for the spread of pathogens of dangerous infections by migratory birds, bats and arthropods.

One of Vedomosti’s interlocutors says that, judging by excerpts from the report, this is standard American practice. They, as noted in this document, give “new types of bioweapons” a special role, which is explained by the likelihood of its “covert use” before a military clash. Genetically engineered bioweapons, for example, could create an advantage for US troops, Vedomosti’s interlocutor explains.

This US activity poses a threat due to free traffic flows within the framework of interstate associations created in the post-Soviet space, such as the CIS, the EAEU, and others, the deputy said. For example, it is from neighboring countries that migration takes place, not to mention the free movement of animals, birds, the existence of transboundary rivers, etc., he points out.

To ensure biosafety in Russia, as the interlocutors of Vedomosti note, it is proposed:

– conduct continuous monitoring of the departmental regulatory framework in the field of biosafety;

– provide for the preparation of an annual state report on the state of biosecurity for presentation to the President and the Houses of the Federal Assembly;

– establish and specify the measures of responsibility for non-compliance with the requirements in the field of biosafety;

– provide for the assessment of the long-term consequences of infectious diseases and vaccines;

– empower the government to establish the procedure for the formation and maintenance of a register of products necessary to ensure biosafety and provide medical care to the population;

– update the list of potentially dangerous biological objects and improve the rules for implementing measures to localize and eliminate zones of biological contamination;

– localize epidemiological risks before the onset of epidemics;

– accelerate the reduction of Russia’s technological dependence on foreign manufacturers of pharmaceutical products;

– Establish criminal liability for repeated violation of export control legislation;

– establish administrative liability for failure to provide information on ongoing scientific research in the field of biosafety;

– to ensure the integration of new subjects of the Russian Federation into the national biosafety system.

Free transport and commodity flows within the EAEU, the CIS and the CSTO do not mean a lack of control, Andrey Tochin, a senior researcher at the RANEPA, believes. “The control is not carried out by the customs services. If we talk about human viruses – Rospotrebnadzor, about animal and plant viruses – Rosselkhoznadzor,” he recalled. At the same time, the only country with which there is no such control is Belarus.

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic in Russia, the Sanitary Shield state project developed by Rospotrebnadzor was approved, aimed at preparing for any epidemics. One of the main tasks of the project developers is to prevent new infections from entering the country, including through state borders. It is assumed that at checkpoints it will be possible to test everyone entering the country by express methods, and sanitary and quarantine control points will become modern laboratory complexes.

The largest collections of virus strains have been collected in Russia and the United States, and they are constantly replenished, says Nikolai Bespalov, development director of the analytical company RNC Pharma (specializes in pharmaceuticals). Having a set of technologies and platforms for creating vaccines, it is quite realistic to produce a new drug even for non-endemic viruses (endemic – characteristic of distribution in a certain area).

The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that it is possible to develop a vaccine and launch large-scale production at the sites of Russian pharmaceutical companies in a fairly short time, Bespalov continued. Since 2014, the Pharma 2020 program has been implemented in Russia, aimed at ensuring the country’s import independence in the pharmaceutical industry, and later it was extended. According to Bespalov, now the country is 40-50% dependent on imported vaccines, and the problem is not the lack of technology, but the lack of investment in such projects.

Biological safety, including safety in the performance of research work, is an extremely important area, epidemiologist Vasily Vlasov believes. He pointed out that international conventions already exist and are in force (for example, on chemical and biological weapons of 1993 and 1972, respectively), as well as individual organizations in this area. “Russia is a party to the convention, there are fairly good procedures, all that remains is to implement them,” he concluded.

Vedomosti sent a request to Rospotrebnadzor.