How to make money on molecular biology?
A young scientist earns money on genesElnara Petrova, Delovoy Peterburg
Research in the field of molecular biology allowed Alexey Pogoda to earn 3 million rubles.
Now he is launching test systems to determine genetic diseases on the market.
Alexey Weather entered the Physics Department of St. Petersburg State University, and spent all his free time in the laboratory of physiological genetics. While studying in the first year of the Biofac postgraduate course, he was already trying to do work in the field of molecular biology on an order. A year later, he registered Fractal Bio LLC.
The company, which was only 2 months old, managed to win an order from the Federal Agency for Health and Social Development. Then there was Rosnauka, the Federal Medical and Biological Agency.
In 2 years, the company has completed four state contracts for research and a couple of contracts for the supply of self-made reagents for molecular biological research. So we managed to earn 3.2 million rubles.
"One of the orders – the development of a test system for the determination of mutations leading to cystic fibrosis (a severe hereditary disease) opened for me a segment of the Russian market that has not yet been covered and will develop intensively in the next decade," says the entrepreneur. Now he is bringing his test systems to the market to analyze defective genes that can lead to the birth of sick children, as well as infertility in men.
It took a year to develop tests for five mutations, allowing to identify about 40% of possible variants of "breakdowns" of the gene leading to cystic fibrosis). During this time, the young scientist realized that he could develop a line of tests and engage in their direct sales.
There are more than 150 potential customer organizations operating in the country. Alexey talked to a number of laboratories, 10 of them were interested in the product: "They are ready to order if we do tests for at least 15-20 mutations, and preferably for 30-35."
The development of each system requires 50 thousand rubles (money is spent on reagents). In terms of time, this is 6 weeks of work to obtain a prototype and another couple of months to put it into production. The advantage is that to begin with, an entrepreneur does not need to obtain registration certificates, because some of the buyers are research laboratories.
A large amount of research has already been done. Alexey is sure: as soon as the first sales go, there will be money to organize more or less mass production. The business requires investments in the amount of 1.5-2 million rubles (payback period – 2 years).
The young scientist does not apply to investors yet, he is preparing documents for patenting: "Now we can offer more than 20 different test systems for both genetic analysis and diagnostics in veterinary medicine. But test systems are just the beginning." The volume of the Russian market of test systems for the definition of cystic fibrosis is estimated at 10 million rubles per year.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.06.2010