Biotech startups have started to appear in Russia

Rose on bacteria

Olga Blinova, Business weekly "Company"

Caught a cold? Drink ascorbic acid, and better eat lemon. This simple recipe for dealing with an incipient cold has been known since childhood. However, few people know that the very vitamin C in the world today is not obtained from lemons at all. Microbiological synthesis of not only vitamin C, but also a number of other essential drugs, including insulin, is much more effective, and most importantly, cheaper.

However, modern biotechnologies have stepped far beyond the boundaries of pharmaceutical production: a real biotechnological revolution has swept the world. With the help of miracle bacteria, the Swedish company AnoxKaldnes offers to produce household plastic from liquid waste, the Norwegian Goe–Ip manages to improve the performance of oil and gas production from hard–to-develop fields, and the American Tufts University has introduced the technology of hidden information transmission, where the main role is assigned to bacteria that glow under certain conditions. In 2013, according to Frost & Sullivan, the volume of the global biotechnology market was estimated at $270 billion, and it continues to grow by 10-12% per year. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, by 2020, up to 35% of chemical industry products, up to 80% of pharmaceuticals and almost half of agricultural products will be produced in the world with the help of biotechnologies.

Investors are not asleep either: in 2013, only American biotech companies – namely, the United States remains the recognized leader in this market – invested about $ 3 billion (according to Renaissance Capital). Russia's place is very modest: our country today accounts for only a tenth of a percent of the global biotechnology market. However, the situation is beginning to change. While high officials are busy adopting development programs and strategic planning, new technologies are emerging in the Russian regions one after another, which feel quite confident in the market and promise good dividends.

Bacteria from Kemerovo "Fluff and feathers, which are formed in excess in poultry farms, are used extremely inefficiently in most cases.

Somewhere, for example, they are simply burned or buried. We have come up with a new way to process them," Anastasia Piskayeva, a representative of the Kera–Tech startup from the Kemerovo Region, says enthusiastically. She and the company's director Anna Linnik recently returned from Moscow, where their project received the first prize at the GenerationS innovation competition in the BiotechMed track and a cash prize of 1.25 million rubles.

Innovators from Kemerovo offer the market their own technology for turning bird feathers into a high-protein feed additive.

"Bird feathers are very poorly processed, they are difficult to process, it is a very durable material," Anastasia Piskayeva explains, "and our technology changes everything."

It all started with the current head of the small innovative enterprise "Kera-Tech" Anna Linnik's passion for biotechnology. One of the poultry farms of the Kemerovo Region applied to the educational center of the Kemerovo Technological Institute of Food Industry, where Anna first studied at the Department of Biotechnology, and then in graduate school. The company launched a pen processing line into a feed additive, and the representatives decided to check its quality. It left much to be desired: instead of the claimed 70% protein, the supplement contained much less of it, and most importantly, it was toxic.

So the idea was born to develop its own high-protein and safe feed additive. It took three years for laboratory research, as a result of which the Kera-Tech technology appeared.

Its essence is quite simple: pre-crushed bird feathers are placed in a reactor with special bacteria, which the founder of the company Anna Linnik experimentally isolated from spoiled meat. Bacterial strains are now stored in Keratech as the apple of the eye: without them, innovation is not innovation. At the exit after drying, a white powder with a high protein content is obtained, which can be added to mixed feed.

"Poultry farms in any case buy feed additives, but most often they are synthetic additives, they are expensive and not very well absorbed. Using Kera-Tech technology, it is possible to obtain a feed additive directly at the poultry farm," explains Anastasia Piskaeva.

In terms of protein content (89-93%), the Kera-Tech feed additive is comparable only with synthetic analogues, the percentages of protein in bone and feather flour are significantly lower (68% and 52%, respectively). At the same time, the innovative additive is very well absorbed by the bird. Kera-Tech claims that this figure reaches 98%. For comparison: the best protein is absorbed by poultry from bone meal, this figure reaches 52%.

The supplement is very cheap at the same time – within 70 rubles per kilogram, while the same synthetic protein supplements are ten times more expensive. The project has been developing for several years on the basis of the educational center of the Kemerovo Technological Institute of Food Industry. Anna Linnik honed the technology on the basis of the Moscow State University branch in Pushchino, near Moscow.

The equipment of the technological line for the production of feed additives at the poultry farm will cost 10 million rubles. provided that the factory produces up to 5 tons of waste per day.

The poultry farm will be able to recoup the costs of implementing the technology within one year. In total, when using Kera-Tech technology, a poultry farm can save up to 16 million rubles per year – an innovative feed additive reduces the cost of compound feed by 18%, which will also need less, because the additive is extremely nutritious. And you can also earn money by selling it.

Kemerovo innovators themselves plan to make money on the installation and engineering maintenance of technical equipment for the production of feed additives and, of course, on the sale of biological material itself – those same miraculous bacteria.

Meanwhile, the technology proposed by the innovators raises a number of questions from experts. First of all, it is unclear how the use of the additive will affect the growth rate of poultry, whether it will lead to premature death, whether it will allow preserving the nutritional qualities provided for by the standards.

"The diet of poultry feeding is rigidly balanced, including amino acid and protein composition, phosphorus and calcium content. For example, we have a 5–time feeding ration in our factories, at each stage the bird receives a different feed. Everything is rigidly calculated down to kilocalories, you can't play with this in any way," emphasizes Yuri Cherchenko, Executive Director of Mosselprom CJSC. – This is a very difficult topic, not just "took-added". You can "mix" so that the bird will not grow or even die from improper nutrition."

Moreover, the technology has not been tested either by time or simply by using it in real life. There are no enterprises that would use the pen processing method proposed by Kera-Tech yet. Representatives of the startup refused to name potential clients who are ready to establish work on innovative technology. It is only known that it will be one of the poultry farms of the Kemerovo region on a medium scale.

Screener for gastritis"De-Nol" – antibacterial protection against ulcers and gastritis": ads for helicobacteriosis pills regularly flash on television.

Nothing surprising: stomach diseases, including ulcerative gastritis, provoked by Helicobacter pylori, have firmly established themselves in the top of diseases in Russian patients.

Treatment here is complicated by delayed, and often inaccurate diagnosis, including related to the examination process. Gastroscopy is just the beginning. The HepyScreen device, invented by Alexander Kozlov from St. Petersburg, can make the diagnosis of the disease easier and more effective.

A colleague from a medical university once told a young student that the traditional diagnosis of helicobacteriosis is an occupation, to put it mildly, "for an amateur." He also suggested that new ways of diagnosing this ailment may be in demand.

"The problem of examinations in case of suspected infection with helicobacteriosis is still being solved by truly barbaric methods,– says Alexander Kozlov. – As a result, the patient evades treatment, from examinations, does not come to control. As a result, he risks being in the hospital or on the surgeon's table with a neglected case."

The scientist began working on a new diagnostic technology while studying at the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University (LETI). The educational institution, among other things, is also known for the only department of biomedical electronics in Russia, founded by academician Axel Berg.

In total, the development of the technology took about seven years, and two years ago Alexander Kozlov became the CEO of Breath Analyzers LLC, which is now engaged in the production of medical screeners. "We are babies among the developers of medical equipment," the inventor jokes.

In the case of HepyScreen, the diagnosis is indeed made almost imperceptibly for the patient: he simply breathes for five minutes into a tube of a medical device pre-filled with a special urea solution. After that, the screener analyzes the data obtained and gives the result – what is the degree of infection with helicobacteria in the patient's body and whether it exists at all.

"We proceeded from the fact that it should be good for both the doctor and the patient,– explains Alexander Kozlov. – And so it turned out. In the case of our device, the doctor offers the procedure, and the patients are happy to undergo it."

"The most accurate diagnosis of chronic HP-associated gastritis can be established after morphological examination of biopsies of the gastric mucosa. But this procedure is very time–consuming and complex both in terms of technical execution and patient tolerance," says Natalia Afanasyeva, a nutritionist and therapist at Grand Clinic. – For a primary care provider, for example, a polyclinic doctor, a "time and effectiveness" solution is needed. The HepyScreen gas analyzer can become such a solution.

"Currently, gastroduodenoscopic examination for helicobacter infection takes more than a day, HepyScreen technology allows it to be done in five minutes with high reliability. In addition, it allows you to monitor the course of antibiotic treatment and, in the absence of an effect, makes it possible to promptly prescribe another treatment," adds Gulnara Bikkulova, Director of the Innovation Markets Department of the Russian Venture Company.

The inventors began to receive positive feedback as soon as clinical trials started. To date, 18,000 patients have been examined in different cities of Russia, including St. Petersburg, Tomsk and Novosibirsk. Now the launch of the device into mass production and deliveries to Russian clinics is not far off. Entrepreneurs have already started collecting applications from potential customers. In any case, medical equipment trading companies are already offering a screener for sale.

Prototypes are being produced in St. Petersburg right now (where exactly, Alexander Kozlov refused to tell). Moreover, the screeners have already established themselves in Latin America: the inventor managed to arrange the delivery of his invention to Chile, Argentina and Mexico. It turned out to be easier to do this than in Russia, he explains. For example, clinical trials are not needed to register there, publications in the world's leading medical journals are enough. Innovators have such.

However, so far we are talking about dozens of devices sent abroad.

"Now these are demonstration samples, but these are serial screeners that look adequately against the background of the best foreign samples of medical equipment," says Alexander Kozlov. – The lack of a free trade certificate in this country prevents increasing supplies."

In total, innovators from St. Petersburg have invested almost 6 million rubles in the HepyScreen project over two years. own funds – that's how much was spent on the creation of the device, clinical research, as well as marketing.

The device is likely to appear on the Russian market at a price of 100,000 rubles, the founders of Breath Analyzers LLC believe.

"This is an approximate selling price," explains Alexander Kozlov and adds that the use of the device in a paid clinic pays off very quickly. The inventor does not comment on the cost of screener production, noting only that the business is high-margin.

"This is a highly liquid technique, the costs of materials and components for screeners are not very high," Alexander Kozlov emphasizes. Kozlov's medical screener is focused on primary health care. Target clients are polyclinics, general practitioners' offices and private medical centers. The screener can be used throughout the year without stopping for maintenance, you only need to change the cartridge. As a result, in twenty working days, the clinic can earn about 80,000 rubles. (subject to the admission of ten patients per day and the average cost of the service of 350 rubles.). Theoretically, patients can save quite a lot on diagnostics: the average cost of gastroscopy in Moscow and St. Petersburg is about 2000 rubles. You can save money on the treatment itself – to conduct an intermediate diagnosis.

In the same way, it is possible to reduce the duration of treatment – Kozlov's device allows you to determine when you managed to get rid of the disease completely.

"Now everything depends on the efforts of the team itself – how ready they are to finish the job, go through all the coordination procedures, get all the necessary permits," summarizes Ekaterina Bulycheva, Deputy General Director of the Center for Innovative Development of Moscow. – According to my assessment, screeners may appear in the doctor's office in at least three years."

Full sweep Two pipes of the same diameter are shown in the section: the first is almost completely clogged with lime and salt deposits, the other is perfectly clean.

This was done by cleaning it using the innovative technology "Nanoserv", which is offered by the company of the same name from Krasnodar. "We are giving thermal equipment a second life," says Elena Levina, CEO of Nanoserv. To get rid of salt scale, a unique bio–organic liquid ("BiZ-1") based on lactic acid is used here, which can return the pipes to almost any degree of contamination to their original appearance. To put it simply, the bacteria contained in the liquid "eat out" the scale and sediment in the pipes.

Unlike traditional methods, for example, cleaning with chemical acids or hydropneumatic flushing, Nanoserv technology does not harm the equipment. Gaskets, tow, and, most importantly, metal do not suffer. "When working with acidic boilers, 5% of boilers are burned and cannot be restored. We allow avoiding these risks," Elena Levina emphasizes. The cleaning itself does not take much time (on average, we are talking about five days of work) and does not require high labor costs.

"Initially, the technology is focused on working with industrial enterprises, but it can be successfully used to clean the heating system of the housing stock," says Ekaterina Bulycheva. "It is very important that the technology is completely safe for humans." She does not rule out that a pilot project on the use of technology may appear in the capital.

"For our country, where central heating is widespread everywhere, this is a very relevant and promising technology that can occupy the entire market of building heating systems," agrees Gulnara Bikkulova. But it's not just about security. The service life of the equipment increases by two or three times, heat transfer increases by 30%, fuel costs decrease by 30%. As a result of the use of BiZ–1, fuel consumption for processing one ton of sugar beet will be reduced by 4.5% or less, Nanoserv calculated. If we talk about residential buildings, then for 500 five-storey houses, the proposed technology provides heat savings of 140,000 Gcal, or 238 million rubles.

As it turned out, there are also free bonuses from using the technology. For example, the degree of sugar evaporation increases in sugar factories, representatives of Nanoserv say. There are indeed many sugar production enterprises among the company's clients, including sugar factories in the villages of Tbilisi, Vyselki, in the city of Korenovsk and even a factory in Switzerland. Nanoserv works in the best traditions of classical chemistry: deposits from pipes are taken for special analysis, their composition and features are specified, and only then bacteria of the desired type and a certain concentration are offered.

"We always take a sample of sediments first and then select the bacterium. A certain number of bacteria "eats" a certain layer of sediments," explains Elena Levina. Cleaning pipes in Nanoserv is inexpensive, although the price of the issue can vary quite a lot depending on the thickness of the deposits and their composition. For example, the cost of cleaning the heating system of a typical five-storey building in the Krasnodar Territory is 120,000 rubles. If we are talking about the cities of Siberia, the average cost doubles. The cost of work on an average boiler house with several boilers and heat exchangers is already pulling half a million rubles.

The company calculated that the annual losses from the failure of non-repaired equipment, the use of additional heating capacity, and most importantly, banal heat losses due to dirty old pipes per five-story building are estimated at the same amount.

By itself, the offer of "Nanoserv" at a price close to the cost of traditional acid cleaning, the company says. Mechanical cleaning is much cheaper, but here all the risks fall on the client who has decided to save money. However, the spread of prices in the market of heating equipment cleaning services has not been formed and each company forms a price offer at its own risk.

"For working with the same equipment in the same company, you can be billed for 100,000 rubles, or 300,000 rubles," says Elena Levina. – If you bargain, the price can be thrown off. And the work of "Uncle Vasya" costs 50,000 rubles at all."

This does not prevent the use of technology throughout Russia: Today the company has 49 dealers in 19 regions of the country, as well as in Belarus and Kazakhstan. The potential market for Nanoserv is really very wide – the proposed technology can be used to clean heating systems of boiler houses and thermal power plants, residential buildings and office buildings, as well as thermal equipment at industrial enterprises. The market volume is estimated at 130 billion rubles today. However, the method of getting rid of salt and calcareous deposits with lactic acid was discovered far from yesterday: for the first time they learned about the BiZ–1 technology in the late 1980s, and the discovery belongs to the Soviet microbiologist Viktor Zvenigorodsky. However, the business project did not work out, although Zvenigorodsky, together with partner Viktor Bogomolov, created the company "Teploservice" and tried to find applications of technology for cleaning heating systems. But in twenty years they managed to fulfill only 150 orders. Today Viktor Zvenigorodsky is the scientific director of the Nanoserv company. The company's CEO Elena Levina found out about the technology quite by accident – her close friend turned out to be Viktor Bogomolov's daughter.

"The technology existed, but it was practically dying, lying on the shelf and not being used," recalls Elena Levina. "It turns out that we brought her back to life, saved her." She invested personal funds in the promotion of the business – in total, during the existence of the company, which is three years, it took 3 million rubles. The game was worth the candle – there are already over 500 spent objects on the account, the monthly turnover of Nanoserv is 5 million rubles, and for 2015 there were 200 million contracts. The average profitability of the business, according to Elena Levina, is 30%. Previous managerial experience and established contacts helped.

Before joining Nanoserv, Elena Levina managed to manage the Krasnodar branch of the company for the wholesale of mobile phones "Teleko", commercial departments in the supermarket "Perekrestok", in the computer store "Polaris", in the shopping centers "Galaxy" and "Mediaplaza", and also received an MBA degree.

Among the clients of Nanoserv are the Krasnodar Thermal Power Plant, the Kuban State University, the Krasnodar administration building, kindergartens and schools of Krasnodar, OJSC Kubanenergo, Rosnipitermneft, a number of local hotels. Now the company plans to expand. Among the priorities is the construction of a production site in Krasnodar, then in Siberia, the Urals and the Moscow region. To enter large markets, including abroad, the company lacks strategic partners and investments. In 2014, the company created its own trademark "Bonaka" to promote a line of cleaning compounds and equipment.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru28.04.2015