Biotechnology in Russia: White Silence

In the "white" biotech – the ice ageEvgenia Novosad, for STRF.ru
The branch of industrial, or "white", biotech in Russia is practically frozen, according to the head of the laboratory of the Chemical Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, head of the Laboratory of Enzyme Biotechnology of the A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the section "Industrial Biotechnology" in the Society of Biotechnologists of Russia named after Yu.A. Ovchinnikov, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor.

Arkady Panteleimonovich Sinitsyn. The crisis that began in the 90s in this area led to the closure of specialized factories, institutes, and entire scientific areas. The lion's share of the market of technical enzymes, which are used, for example, in the alcohol industry, bakery, agriculture, is closed due to imports.

Industrial, or as it is also called "white", biotechnology is considered one of the most promising innovative industries. According to some forecasts, in the coming years it may even overtake the growth rates of the leaders – the "red" biopharma and the "green" agrobiotech. And how do you assess the future of this direction?– It is difficult to say whether the "white" biotechnology will outstrip other areas, but its potential is really huge.

It is involved in most of the basic sectors of the economy – energy, chemical and petroleum, food, mining, pulp and paper and textile industries, the industry of detergent enzymes and others. The figures also speak about the prospects. The volume of the world market of industrial biotechnology in 2008, according to the Society of Biotechnologists of Russia, has already amounted to 49 billion US dollars, of which the market of my specialization – enzymes and enzyme preparations – 4.2 billion US dollars. In many countries, the pace of application of "white" biotechnology is actively increasing, gradually harmful production is being transferred to "bio" – that is, harmless, environmentally friendly, cheaper and at the same time effective. There is a boom in biotechnology in the world. America, the European Union, Japan, China and India have developed biotechnological long-term strategies, they clearly want to be healthier, breathe clean air and not depend on Russian oil. Something in Russia is taking a very long time to understand this.

We are still moving towards understanding what biotechnology is in principle, and "industrial" in particular. Where is "white" biotechnology most in demand?– There are a lot of application examples.

Now more and more disposable tableware is being produced, including glasses made of rapidly degradable biopolymers, and those, in turn, are obtained from grain starch. This is how carpets, car upholstery materials and much more are produced in different countries. Such products are disposed of without residue in just a few weeks. Most people know about food enzymes, preservatives, antioxidants, dyes, sweeteners, and even more so yeast, but few people realize that all this is obtained with the help of biotechnology. According to McKinsey Group, it is expected that by 2020, 20 percent, that is, 280 billion dollars a year, of the global chemical market will be replaced by bio-products, of which 160 billion dollars a year will be new products.

Probably, many have already heard about biofuels. It is also one of the most important areas of "white" biotech. More and more countries are converting energy to bioresources. To do this, from plants (biomass) they produce biofuels of the first and second generations – biobutanol, bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas. Royal Dutch Shell predicts that by 2050, 30 percent of the total energy demand will be provided by renewable sources, and the biomass-based energy market will amount to $150 billion per year. In Russia, we are still relying on our oil reserves by inertia. But this is strategically incorrect. Sooner or later, in an average of 20 years, we would have to become a world leader in the supply of biofuels using our unique territorial and natural resources. Yes, and for internal needs it is important. If five percent bioethanol is added to gasoline, it will reduce the amount of harmful emissions by 40 percent. In general, the "white" biotech is very useful for ecology, solves the problems of bioremediation (revival) and purification of soils, water, industrial and household waste disposal.

Biotechnology can be compared to a diligent housewife, who does not lose anything. Biotechnologists get food protein from agricultural waste. There are regions where people are starving, there are hundreds of millions of them, and they lack protein first of all. And microorganisms are extremely rich in protein – it makes up 70-80 percent of their weight, and the rate of its synthesis is enormous.

Biotechnological enzymes can also be used in detergents, for example, due to them, the effectiveness of washing powders is enhanced. The enzyme protease destroys protein contamination; lipase – removes fat, oil stains; cellulase is needed for surface treatment of cotton fabrics, it not only removes dirt, but also protects against lintiness. There is also melase, which is added to remove starchiness.

Protease and cellulase are in our portfolio of developments. There have been attempts to produce them in Russia, but it is difficult to compete and win back the primary segment from large companies that invest heavily in advertising, sales, creating a customer base, etc.

You mentioned the mining industry. How are biotechnologies applied here?– The so–called geobiotechnology is a very promising direction of the "white" biotech.

Here microorganisms are used to leach minerals. For example, to extract gold is the most efficient, environmentally friendly, cheap, safe method compared to metallurgical. "Free" gold in Russia has already been exhausted by 80 percent, so the biometode is the future. And we have unique developments in this area in Russia. Bacterial leaching of metals from ores can increase the yield of non-ferrous metals by 10-25 percent, and increase oil recovery by 30-40 percent, while significantly reducing the amount of harmful methane entering the atmosphere.

It is clear that in the world the "white" biotech has spring and flourishing, and we have winter ... or even an ice age?– The industry is frozen, and it is not known how long it will last.

The crisis started in the early 90s, factories were closed, institutes and scientific directions disappeared. Now almost all enterprises are closed, with the exception of the alcohol industry, which allows you to get ethyl alcohol from grain. Of the 50 hydrolysis plants, one is working, one of the enzyme plants remains. We do not produce amino acids, organic acids, enzymes, we buy almost all of them. The lion's share of the market of technical enzymes, which are used in the alcohol industry, bakery, agriculture for the production of feed additives and other products, is closed due to imports.

What are the import volumes?– I know the statistics on lysine (an amino acid for feed additives in animal husbandry).

Previously, about 100 thousand tons of it were produced in Russia, now about 20 thousand tons are imported. We also have one plant left in this direction. The volume of this market in Russia is 300-400 million dollars a year, while the market capacity is significantly larger. But not all agriculture is able to use this kind of additive, since many farms do not have money.

What do you think the state needs to do to change the situation?– The business is knowledge-intensive, something needs to be spent on research, something on development.

It is necessary to build new production facilities, since the old ones cannot be used for a number of reasons: they are badly destroyed, part of the equipment is "cut", part is sold, personnel is lost, technology is outdated, productivity is small. In most cases, it is easier to build a new plant than to modernize the old one. This is a costly area, but it is quite recoupable. We need to support small and medium-sized businesses. Now I'm going to open a small company – where can I rent a laboratory room? It is impossible to arrange a lease, because in the RAS it is bad with rent, the rules are constantly changing there, the same thing at the university. Some pockets of resistance have remained, they have been united by the Society of Biotechnologists of Russia since 2003. Now we are urgently finalizing a long-term strategy for the development of the industry until 2020. We hope the government and departments will pay attention to it.

How long does the enzyme production plant pay off?– Business plans may be different.

On average, the plant pays off in two to three years. I'll give you an example. In 2005-2006, I was the head of a major project of the Ministry of Education and Science, in which the Chemical Faculty of Moscow State University, the Institute of Biochemistry, IBH RAS and other organizations, including private ones, took part. We had several grants for large state complex projects on the development of technologies for the production of six major industrial enzymes. It was necessary to evaluate the possibility of business implementation, and we built a business plan for this task. In two years, the task was completed, all the developments received patents, it remained to find a factory and start production. We didn't manage to do it. One of the ideas was to implement the project at distilleries. 10 percent of such plants have their own enzyme workshops. However, some of them did not work, others were not interested, others were interested, but there was no money. Modernization of the plant is worth millions of dollars. Thus, the state paid for the development, and no one is interested in what happens next. In general, the main signal is that it's time to stop just talking.

Who is financing your developments?– We are funded from various sources: grants, contracts, funds from private companies.

The most attractive level of relations is working with private companies, not with the state. In the first case, we get the exact task, the amount of work and expenses, and agree on the division of intellectual property. You can also turn to a private company with an offer to purchase the development.

It is extremely difficult to work with the state. Here, bureaucracy regarding the expenditure of finance, reporting, etc. comes out in the first place, and the state is not interested in using the results of developments. I mean the Ministry of Education and Science. We are also trying to cooperate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

How can you work when the bulk of the money (50-60 percent of grants) you get it by the end of the year, and you have to spend it feverishly, not having the right to transfer costs to the next year. You are turning from a scientist and a scientific organizer into an accounting machine. And it hasn't changed for years. To service such contracts with the state, it is necessary to create a special mechanism and hire additional people, who generally have nowhere to take.

Have any of your works been put into practice?– Over the years, we have formed a large portfolio of unique enzymes, which includes 25 samples ready for production in various fields.

We still need a factory where we can produce, sell, sell, apply, etc.

Since we have not found a site in Russia, we have implemented the production of two enzyme preparations for feed additives in Bulgaria together with the company "Bioved". As a result, the products produced there are sold in Russia as imported and at higher prices. This is one example of the fact that we are quite competitive with the West. We also cooperate with America and Canada.

The second is the introduction of our developments in distilleries, where enzymes are used to convert starch into sugar, glucose, which is then fermented into alcohol, etc. A number of plants have enzyme workshops. They produce the main enzyme in this area – glucomelase. We officially bought this industrial strain and improved it several times, increased productivity five times. With an absolutely identical process, it is not necessary to change the equipment, process conditions, raw materials, just change one for another, we offer to buy a new strain for very little money. A number of factories were bought, but some factories were closed, someone was not interested in it, someone stopped fulfilling obligations. Constant struggle.

How do you create unique enzymes?– If a certain enzyme is needed, for example, for the textile industry, paper industry, then producers of microorganisms are created that make a large, industrially significant amount of enzymes.

Thanks to our own research, we know why this particular enzyme (or enzyme complex) is needed, what its properties are, how it can be used, what problems exist. At the same time, it is important to get a fairly cheap product. We can make any enzyme, get a patent, but the question is why.

How much does a license for a Western enzyme cost?– A modern license for the production of an enzyme costs in the range of several million dollars or euros.

It happens that the price reaches up to 10-20 million dollars.

Who is the world leader in the field of industrial enzymes now?– There are two leaders in the world: the Danish company Novozymes and Genencor (a division of Danisco).

We tried to interact with both companies, but it is very difficult, because they believe that they can do everything themselves, and they have a very long way to make decisions. They sell enzymes, for example, Henkel, they already have well-established connections. The only thing they can be interested in is cheaper prices, but they don't need to change the awl for soap anyway.

There are already Russian companies that say: "We don't want to be held captive by Henkel's pricing policy." Globalization has a negative impact. But usually these patriotic intentions do not reach the end. Out of 10 developments, it is good if two reach production.

And in what areas, besides detergents, can we still compete, but global players do not allow it?– This is the picture in all areas where technical enzymes are used, but there are exceptions when unique enzymes are created for unique directions.

Ideally, it is necessary to create a structure where some group with active young personnel is engaged in research, and in terms of implementing developments, interact with a private company that can be trusted, which has its own production base, its own enzyme plant, or you need to create and search for yourself.

Is there really no site in Russia for the production of enzymes?– Sites that can be considered as enzyme sites are only workshops of distilleries.

We had production at six or seven distilleries, now there are only two left. The Bulgarian example is also not the most successful, because we cannot fully understand what is happening there financially, a lot of information is closed.

It is ideal to have your own consortium when you enter the production decision-making department, because there is always a question of modernization, removing problems, optimizing the search for new directions, someone knows how to produce, someone can sell. For example, if a business produces phosphates and uses them as a feed additive, then it is easy for them to explain why it is necessary to use enzymes as a feed additive in order to sell in one portfolio. We just need to look for partners now.

Is there a problem with scientific personnel?— no.

At the university, you can always select young people, prepare them, bring them to the level of a dissertation, then they simultaneously carry out fundamental and applied work, after the defense, people work productively for two or three more years, and then they begin to leave, because it is impossible for them to provide a decent level of remuneration. They mostly go to work in sales offices. Scientists left earlier, now there is no one. At the same time, the Academy is obviously aging, branch institutes are generally a huge problem, there are no young or old personnel. We are fighting in our own direction, but try to form a new team - it is impossible.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru28.12.2009