The path of the innovator: Moscow – Harvard – Boston

How to become a biokinetic millionaireGalina Kostina, "Expert".

After leaving for America, our scientist was not only able to do his favorite research, but also became the owner and top manager of two promising innovative companies invested more than a hundred million dollars.

He was the youngest professor at Moscow State University, a laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize and a laureate of the USSR State Prize in Science and Technology. He was the first in the USSR to test international networks in 1982, which were then called international computer conferences, and now the Internet. He now lives in Boston. But, unlike the hero Zhvanetsky, who could have become a hero at home, but became a waiter in London, which he "terribly regrets", Anatoly Klesov is happy with his fate. In the USA, he was able not only to effectively engage in what attracted him to science, but also to try to implement his scientific developments as an entrepreneur. Anatoly Klesov has passed the classic path of an innovator, about which a lot of textbooks are written. And now he is a shareholder of an enterprise that uses his developments in the field of composite materials, as well as one of the main shareholders and vice president of a biotech company developing anti-cancer drugs. In his spare time from his main job, Klesov acts as a consultant, writes textbooks and, as a hobby, conducts research related to the history of mankind, which he tracks by mutations in genomes.

Of course, he misses Russia. I am glad that he can come here and even share his experience. At the end of May, he gave lectures at Moscow State University on three topics in which many experts in the world consider him a doctor: new composite materials, new anti-cancer drugs and DNA genealogy.A friend among strangers

Anatoly Klesov did not emigrate to the USA, but went there to work.

It was in the 1990 perestroika year. Fifteen years before that, he had already spent a year there on an internship after graduating from the chemical faculty of Moscow State University. He was sent as an excellent student who defended his PhD thesis first in the course, a Komsomol member, an athlete. And not anywhere, but to the famous Harvard, where his scientific supervisor Ilya Vasilyevich Berezin once did an internship. Klesov, who was engaged first in chemical kinetics, and then in biokinetics – the science of the rates of biological reactions, continued his research at Harvard. He was lucky that at that time an exciting scientific discovery was made there about the role of blood vessels in the formation of a malignant tumor, which served as the beginning of a new direction in oncology and in the development of drugs of a new class. And although at that time Klesov was engaged in other topics, interest in oncology would still play a role in his biography.

A year at Harvard was instructive in many ways. In comparison, Klesov assessed the level of his training at Moscow State University: overall development is better than that of his American colleagues, specialization in biochemistry is worse. I realized that I needed to work more with my hands in the laboratory, not only comprehending the processes with my mind, but also "feeling" them physically. He learned to write scientific articles in English and began to publish in international journals.

When the internship period ended, Klesov, as the best, wanted to stay at the Harvard laboratory for several years to work under a contract. Its leaders even wrote a letter to the Russian embassy, with which Anatoly went to Washington. The ambassador was friendly and generous, said: this is wonderful, the last time our specialists were invited to work thirty years ago, we need to break the ice. Follow your family to Moscow and return to Harvard. Inspired, Klesov flew to the Russian capital, where it turned out that he would not be allowed anywhere – neither now nor in the following years. It became "exit" only nine years later, during Gorbachev's warming.

At Moscow State University, Klesov headed a laboratory to study the mechanisms of action of enzymes – biological catalysts that can synthesize new antibiotics, convert cellulose into glucose and do many other useful things. For this he received the Lenin Komsomol Prize. Then Klesov was transferred to the head of the laboratory of the Academy of Sciences, where he dealt with carbohydrates, which later came in handy. And then the staff of the A. N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry elected him director: it was time for democratic elections. But the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences did not approve him in this position. According to Klesov, another worthy person was appointed director. But Anatoly was still offended and it is clear that he is unlikely to achieve anything more here. And then another invitation to America arrived.

The first business lesson for a scientistAt Harvard, he was accepted as a native.

Moreover, he was among the patriarchs – for fifteen years, almost the entire staff of the laboratory had changed, but he was remembered. Klesov began to deal with the mechanisms of blood supply to cancerous tumors. "I put on my robe again and went to the laboratory, because, as a professor, I could not lead people who would know the nuances of the topic better than me, I myself had to see cells, reactions – all processes from scratch," says Klesov. – This was taught to me by another year of internship fifteen years ago." And everything went well, because Harvard is not only an opportunity to do science, but also a social honor and comfort. "These are regular teas with the president of Harvard University, which he arranges for professors, with members of the Harvard Club, communication with famous and interesting people. You talk sweetly to Jim without knowing his last name, and only then you remember that he is a Nobel laureate. Harvard is a special atmosphere, these are important social networks," says Klesov.

The same social networks a dozen years later led him to a fork in the road – to maintain a stable position at Harvard or dive into a new business. Alexey, a former graduate student at Moscow State University, who by that time was vice-president of a biotech company in Cambridge, called and said that there was an interesting proposal. At one of the receptions, he talked with the president of the newly formed Thermo Fibergen company, which was supposed to process cellulose into useful products. The President could not find the head of the research unit. A former graduate student says: yes, you are right in the top ten, I can recommend such a person. And he gave me the phone number of Klesov, who was dealing with the problems of cellulose processing with the help of enzymes back in Union and received the State Prize for Science and Technology for it. There was a conversation and an invitation to an interview.

"I caught fire, it was really a large–scale task - to find an effective use for millions of tons of waste paper production. Of course, many people were doing this, but there was no profitable solution." Anatoly studied the new literature, prepared an excellent presentation in which he listed what products can be made from cellulose, technologies for their production and economic calculations.

The audience – about fifteen people from the large parent company Thermo Electron, which decided to create a biotech subsidiary of Thermo Fibergen – was completely delighted. The performance was clearly stellar: they listened to him with interest for several hours, asked questions and applauded the answers. After the ovation, Klesov was asked to take a walk. He purposely did not go far away, being fully confident that in five minutes he would be congratulated on his new position. But an hour passed, followed by a second, it took a break, and the audience went out to warm up in the corridor. Discouraged, Klesov approached the kindest-looking old man and cautiously asked what they had been discussing for so long. The old man answered delicately: you are well done, you have fantastic erudition, fluency in the material, you even counted the economy, which scientists rarely do. But, my friend, you have offered us twenty different products, and we only need one. One that will bring money. So now we are puzzling over whether he is among those listed and why you did not directly mention him.

That evening Klesov did not get an answer.

The next day, the president of the newly created company called and immediately asked: "Anatole, can you organize a laboratory quickly and from scratch?" "Of course,– Klesov replied. And I heard an equally quick response: "Then we'll take you."

At Harvard, he went to his supervisor, the director of the Biochemistry Research Center, Bert Valley, not without fear: wouldn't it look treacherous? He, surprisingly, was delighted and made a pathetic speech about how happy he was to be involved in the release of his ward into the big life. Valli even promised equipment for the new Klesovsky laboratory as a gift. When trucks with centrifuges, spectrophotometers, cones, test tubes and chemicals from Valley arrived at the almost empty building of the new company, not only Anatoly was stunned, but also everyone who was present. And a year later, in 1997, the plant built by Thermo Fibergen produced the new product that the company chose: decks or floorboards made of composite material, which included cellulose fiber, polymers and minerals. A solution was found in which short–fiber paper pulp (cellulose with minerals - calcium carbonate and aluminosilicates) was used, which previously went to waste in huge quantities. In this form, no one could find a use for it: some needed cellulose without minerals, others needed minerals without cellulose.

A year later, a second plant was built, the company became public and "raised," as Klesov says, $ 60 million. Decks made of composite material that the company produces – durable, not exposed to fungus, woodworms and oxygen – are great for covering verandas that adorn most American homes in the suburbs.

Klesov is proud that his knowledge of polymer chemistry and physics, chemical engineering and copromat converged in this development. The latter, however, he mastered already in the USA, they did not teach this at Moscow State University. He was proud that this development, unlike similar academic studies, turned into an excellent building material, which the popular American magazine Consumer Report awarded the status of "Best Buy", giving the highest recommendation for potential buyers. Klesov wrote a book about these composite materials, and now it is used as a textbook all over the world.

David, Anatole and two hundred dollarsSoon he became a shareholder and vice president of Thermo Fibergen and worked in this position until the company, renamed Kadant Composites, was transferred from Boston to the other end of America.

I didn't want to move from the already settled Boston. I didn't want to break away from Harvard. There was another reason. In 2000, when the "composite" company was still successfully operating in Boston, an acquaintance of David Platt, the head of a biotech company engaged in safe technologies for chemical products: paints, shampoos, fertilizers, turned to Anatoly in the gym. Klesov was invited there as a consultant on chemistry. David decided to create a new company that would deal with anti-cancer drugs. At first, Anatoly did not agree: they say, I have a great job, status, stability, and immersion in a completely different topic. David urged: this is completely different, even though you are a shareholder there, but not the main one, but here we will make our own company, and you yourself understand in what important industry we will create a product, so if we win, we will be on a horse. You've been doing oncology, so you won't be diving for long. By the way, at first you will be able to work in a new company optionally, the main thing is to set an idea and start the process.

"He convinced me. First, I could return to oncology, which interest has not faded over time. Secondly, having gained experience in a commercial company in which everything was already set up, I wanted to try to become one of the creators, to feel how two people, paying two hundred dollars for an official opening, can make a company in which investors, according to David, will bring millions," says Anatoly Klesov.

This time Klesov offered not twenty products, but one. He had learned that long-ago lesson. "At that time, the world only discovered proteins-lectins, which are in large quantities on the surface of tumor cells and which are almost absent on healthy cells. Some of these lectins are sensitive to galactose, a substance similar to glucose. Therefore, these proteins are called galectins. David and I formed the idea that a substance containing galactose and capable of being an inhibitor of galectins could become a candidate for a new drug," says Klesov. Polysaccharides containing sugars such as galactose and mannose – galactomannans – Anatoly Klesov studied in the laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences. However, at that time no one thought that galactomannans could be related to cancer. "Since these were fundamental studies, far from applied ones, the most exotic galactomannans were studied in the Soviet laboratory, for example, from edelweiss from the Tien Shan Mountains. And here we needed an affordable and relatively cheap source, which we found in plants widely used in the food industry. The polysaccharide from this plant is called guar-gum, jelly is made from it. We are now cutting this polysaccharide chemically into molecules of a certain size, they dissolve perfectly in saline, and then it can be administered as a medicine."

When the friends agreed to create the company Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Klesov wrote a 120-page business plan, and David went to raise money for a new anti-cancer drug, which was named after the creators of the company David and Anatoly – davanat. In his previous company, David made the shareholders millionaires, so under his own name he easily got $ 2 million for the new company.

The company created at David's desk and registered has started to work. They were not going to make a full-fledged pharmaceutical "kitchen". Practical tasks were performed under contract by specialized laboratories. Already the first experiments on animals have shown that the substance created on the basis of galactose inhibits the galectins of tumor cells well, which improves the treatment with traditional chemotherapy drugs. A number of subsequent tests on rats and dogs have shown that the drug is harmless and effective. The FDA (Food & Drug Administration – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) has given permission for clinical trials.

For this, completely different resources were needed. David and the company's financiers spent all their time flying and talking to investors. In total, about $ 50 million was invested in the company during this period.

The first phase of clinical trials gave good results. It is known that treatment with such a well−known anti-cancer drug as 5-fluorouracil in 20-40% of cases causes a side effect in the form of ulceration of the mucous membranes. At first, a person cannot eat, then drink, and generally open his mouth. A cure for such ulceration has not yet been found, doctors are trying to alleviate the condition of patients by using anesthetic rinses, lubricating gels, acupuncture, etc. The first and then the second phase of clinical trials showed that none of the 97 people who were given davanate together with 5−fluorouracil had mucosal ulceration.

Now the drug has reached the third stage of clinical trials. "But this does not mean that we will soon triumph,– says Anatoly. – Just as it is relatively easy for money to appear in a company, it can disappear. Conducting clinical trials is expensive, the company pays all the costs of experimental treatment of patients, and this is at least 20 thousand dollars per person." The first entry into the market with the company's shares was successful: the initial price was three dollars per share, there were eight million shares in total. Later, they began to be quoted at six dollars per share. But then there was a lull. As Klesov says, shareholders are also people, and they want everything to happen faster. And two or three years pass – there is no drug on the market. The stock dropped to 50 cents. Now they are on the rise again: the third stage of the clinic is a solid stage. If the drug reaches FDA approval, the shares will cost from $ 10 to $ 50 each, because the new drug, if successful, will bring billions of dollars in profits.

The company is conducting research on this drug in other areas. According to Klesov, he shows himself well in the treatment of fibrosis, arthritis, asthma and other inflammatory diseases, in which those same galectins also play an important role. However, so far there are results in animal experiments. An anti–cancer drug will be approved - there will be money for other clinical trials. The company has already had offers from major pharmacists. "But so far our company is not eager to sell," says Anatoly, "and maybe it's not just a question of price (although there are offers that are difficult to refuse). Our shareholders are solidly provided for, a few extra millions will not change anything special in their lives. They and I have hope and ambitions: to create a drug that will ease and prolong the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients means to enter the pantheon of humanity."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru/15.06.2009