Koshcheev 's secrets
The market of commercial gerontology is focused on the elite consumer
Anna Oreshkina, "Company" magazine
The aging of the population is a global trend, which resulted in the promotion of productive old age: pensioners today actively attend fitness clubs, educational courses and, of course, medical centers.
Unlike gerontology, antiaging (prevention of aging) offers services, for example, xenotherapy and detox droppers, mainly to patients aged 35-55 years. Recently, TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak told about an unexpected meeting at the elite European detox and antiage resort Merano in Italy with the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin - in line to the kettle.
Silence of calves
The town of Merano in the Italian Alps is famous not only for its Radon thermal springs resort, but also for one of the oldest Russian-speaking communities in Italy. Previously, aristocrats of imperial Russia rested here, now owners of tight wallets are rushing to the naturopath Henri Chenault beauty and health center. For example, being the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov used his services, as well as his wife Elena Baturina. A basic detox or rejuvenation course at the Espace Henri Chenot center costs about 4,000 euros per week – without accommodation.
However, money for rejuvenation can be spent in Russia. At the end of January, Professor Vladimir Khavinson received from the hands of President Vladimir Putin a state award – the Order of Friendship. "This is not the result of an activity, but a prologue," commented a 70–year-old scientist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at the same time a businessman. Vladimir Khavinson is studying ways to extend the active age of almost 40 years, he started at the Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov (and later worked in St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology), which developed drugs to increase the stability of the immune system and improve brain function in critical situations – they were taken by submariners, cosmonauts, "Chernobyl" and "Afghans". It turned out to be a capacious scientific direction and a real gold mine. This is how "Havinson peptides", or geroprotectors, appeared on the market – drugs obtained from the organs of calves. Short chains of amino acids that affect individual genes or entire genetic chains and, according to the inventor himself, are able to regulate the activity of genes: some slow down, and others stimulate. Havinson has developed five drugs that are included in the state pharmacopoeia, and more than two dozen parapharmaceuticals, or dietary supplements, that have not passed certified clinical trials. Leading TV channels and mass media help them to make an advertising campaign: Vladimir Khavinson and his wife, Professor Svetlana Trofimova, give weekly interviews, and their products are sold through network agents.
It is difficult to calculate the total turnover of the sale of peptide bioregulators, but a four-month preventive course of treatment for coronary heart disease, for example, costs 25,000 rubles. In total, more than a dozen courses are offered.
"Business, yes, successful. As for the effectiveness of peptides, most gerontologists consider its evidence insufficiently convincing. In the era of evidence–based medicine, standards can be said to be written with the blood and money of patients who were bought for advertising funds, their effectiveness, or even safety, was not confirmed later," says biophysicist, leading expert of the Institute of Biology of Aging LLC Igor Artyukhov. The opinion that the publicity of these funds strongly does not correspond to the degree of proof is shared by several other experts and doctors with whom Ko talked. The chief doctor of one of the medical centers believes that this is fraud at all: "Recently, thanks to the efforts of people who have high ranks and formally have a medical education, against the background of the general decline of scientific thought, a large number of false methods of treatment, as well as rejuvenation services, etc. have spread in Russia. In reality, there is a world medicine, the standards of which are set out in the recommendations of professional communities, primarily Europe and America, and we try, as far as the qualifications of our doctors allow, to follow it." Vladimir Khavinson is often criticized for discrediting the very idea of peptides, but there is no broad discussion: neither side has serious evidence. And what is the demand with dietary supplements?
The chief physician of the antiaging clinic "Fifth Element" Julia Titel believes that peptides have proven their effectiveness: "It is worth saying that they work with cells, prolonging their active phase. If a cell is "outdated" and there are internal defects in it, its physiological potential is already ineffective. In the case when she is not able to turn on the programmed death herself, peptides stimulate her care and tissue rejuvenation. We cannot talk about prolonging a person's life."
According to her, most of the fundamental studies of peptides belong to Russian specialists Vladimir Havinson and Vyacheslav Morozov. European doctors are also studying this area, but they are mainly engaged in peptides that enhance skin regeneration.
"The main patents belong to the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in St. Petersburg and Havinson, in particular. Pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies buy a patent from them and add the patented substance to their preparations and product lines: medicines, drops, creams, masks," Yulia Titel notes. The "Fifth Element" refused to announce the cost of patents, citing trade secrets.
Peptide Network
Direct sales companies are also engaged in the implementation of "Havinson peptides". Since 2010, the "exclusive right to promote the latest highly effective developments of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology" has been held by NPCRiZ LLC ("Scientific and Production Center for Revitalization and Health"). They are promoted in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Baltic states. The company aims, as stated on the official website, "at the widespread introduction of products of advanced and scientifically based technologies that not only increase the average life expectancy by several tens of percent, but also reduce the risk of malignant neoplasms, diseases of the cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system and other vital systems and organs by 3-5 times". Advertising is quite effective. According to Kartoteka.ru , the revenue of NPCRiZ LLC in 2015 amounted to 112 million rubles, recently the founders of the trading company Valery Alexandrov and Roman Pinaev opened two more legal entities for the production and sale of cosmetics and food additives. The connection with the staff of the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology is quite close: the vice-president of NPCRiZ LLC is a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Age-related Clinical Pathology of the Institute, David Gorgiladze, and Vladimir Khavinson is listed as the chief scientific consultant.
Vladimir Khavinson has built a whole business empire on the production and sale of peptide drugs. So, he is a co-owner of SIA Peptides LLC, the majority stake of which, 60%, until recently was concentrated in the hands of the family of Igor Rudinsky, a major pharmaceutical businessman who died in 2014. Also, the chief gerontologist of St. Petersburg owns LLC "Biovita", which is engaged, among other things, in the production of dietary supplements and pharmaceutical substances and trade. Vladimir Khavinson's wife Svetlana Trofimova and her brother Alexander Trofimov own the Tree of Life clinic, which on its official website is named the clinic of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. The turnover of the clinic at the end of 2015, according to the data Kartoteka.ru , – 24 million rubles, a year earlier – 9 million rubles.
One of Havinson's companies, Biocom Village, engaged in the wholesale sale of pharmaceuticals, has an American "daughter" Neostar, registered in Delaware, which is called a paradise for high-tech companies.
Major Russian entrepreneurs are involved in the business of the famous gerontologist. Vladimir Khavinson's partners in two of his companies were ex-Minister of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation and former deputy chairman of the Gazprom Management Board Pyotr Rodionov and his wife Inna. Now they own LLC "Clinic of the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology" and "Longvi-pharm". And here the chain leads to the Geropharm holding, which is headed by Pyotr Petrovich Rodionov. One of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Russia with a turnover of about 3 billion rubles by the end of 2015. it was established in 2001 . At that time, Pyotr Rodionov Sr., along with Viktor Chernomyrdin's team, left Gazprom, which would later play a significant role in the Rodionov family's new business. The proceeds from the sale of oil and gas assets (according to experts, $ 30 million) allowed them to start investing in the pharmaceutical industry. It was in 2001 that Geropharm was founded, and the first drugs released by the company were Cortexin and Retinalamine, the invention of which involved Vladimir Havinson and his colleagues from the Military Medical Academy. In 2003 Geropharm, together with the Ministry of Health and Gazprom, created a joint venture for the production of insulin, and soon became the exclusive distributor of Rinsulin. Since 2008, the company has been participating in the state program on drug import substitution with a total volume of 50 billion rubles.
Favorite of Presidents
Vladimir Khavinson, in interviews and meetings with patients, often says that solving the problems of prolonging life and active age should be approached comprehensively. Life expectancy is influenced not only by special means, but primarily by genetics, general culture and education. As an example of a conscious attitude to his own age, Vladimir Khavinson cites Russian President Vladimir Putin: "Given the past (master of sports), lifestyle, military education, diet and physical education, the potential of our president is brilliant. I think 20 years minimum." There is no evidence that the two Wladimir were acquainted before the award of the Order of Friendship in January. However, now Vladimir Khavinson has the best advertising agent – the presentation of the state award actually legalized all his inventions.
When asked whether the Kremlin is now a customer of his drugs and services, Havinson replied on the live broadcast of Fontanka that Moscow is well aware of his developments, and before the top officials of the state actively used them. According to the St. Petersburg professor, the peptide preparations developed by his institute were taken by Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov. In 1996, before the first presidential elections in Russia, Boris Yeltsin's doctor came to Havinson's laboratory, who was recommended 10 drugs for patient number one, and all of them were used for their intended purpose.
The St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology developed drugs for professional athletes. One of the tasks is a quick recovery after extreme loads. Shortly before the London Olympics, Vladimir Khavinson was approached by the coach of the Russian rhythmic gymnastics team, Irina Viner, with a request to pick up immune system-strengthening drugs for athletes. The cooperation turned out to be fruitful, and it was continued during the preparation for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"As for anti-doping control, peptides are part of human biological fluids, so they are not determined. And with increased loads, their number becomes insufficient, and we make up for them. The drugs remain unchanged in the body for several minutes, and their metabolites are ordinary amino acids," says Galina Ryzhak, Deputy Director of the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology for scientific Work and New Technologies, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences.
However, the IOC banned peptides: last November, Russian swimmer Vitaly Melnikov was disqualified for taking them.
Vladimir Havinson does not complain about the lack of clients. On the personal website of the gerontologist, you can find photos of visitors to the Center for Bioregulation and Gerontology, including artists Valery Leontiev, Evgeny Petrosyan, Mikhail Zadornov and, for example, the wife of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Sarah.
The long life of Rusnano
Now many large companies and foundations are showing interest in medicine, including "medicines for old age".
Mitotech Company was founded in 2009 by Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dean of the Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics of Moscow State University Vladimir Skulachev and his sons Maxim and Innokenty. The business is based on "Skulachev ions" and the mitochondrial theory of aging: the professor suggested that the aging process can be slowed down if antioxidants are delivered directly to the cell, and invented a substance capable of doing this – SkQ (analog Q10). The synthesis and production of SkQ is also carried out at Mitotech. We are not talking about a cure for old age yet: there is one product on the market – Visomitin eye drops for dry eye syndrome, which have been clinically tested in Of Russia. Even before the company was founded, wealthy Russians showed interest in Skulachev's developments. At the suggestion of the Rector of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Viktor Sadovnichev, a member of the University's Board of Trustees, Oleg Deripaska, allocated $120,000 through the Volnoe Delo Foundation for the development of a cure for old age. A year later, he invested another $ 15 million in them, making it through the Cyprus offshore Mivar Inv. Ltd. the co-founder of Mitotech, Deripaska's partners were the whole Skulachev family and MSU. "Vladimir Petrovich (Skulachev. – Approx. "Ko") never promised to save Deripaska from aging, he bluntly said that the antioxidant he invented was so active that at least it should definitely help from burrs. Deripaska replied that he was quite satisfied with the burrs," recalls Maxim Skulachev. However, the money for the "burrs" ran out exactly by 2008, when the owner of "Basel" had good reasons to save, and he stopped financing the project. In 2014, Maxim Skulachev claimed that Oleg Deripaska was no longer related to the "Skulachev ions".
One billionaire was replaced by another: Alexander Chikunov (ex-co-owner of the Rusenergoinvest fund, former board member of RAO UES of Russia, founder of the Rostock group), on the recommendation of his former boss Anatoly Chubais, invested $ 10 million in Skulachev's project, which he now calls lost money. Two years after entering the project, Alexander Chikunov did not see the result. In the hope of conquering the market with a unique cure for old age, Rusnano Corporation joined the project in 2010, now it owns 32.32%. Before the transaction, Mitotech was audited by EY and PWC. At the expense of the state Corporation, clinical trials of drugs based on "Skulachev ions" were started, and industrial production of the SkQ substance was created on the territory of Moscow State University with a capacity of up to 1.5 kg per year. The drug under the working name "Plastomitin" is planned to be released on the market in 2018-2020.
The majority owner of Mitotech is the Cyprus offshore company JISI Basic Treatment Limited, in 2015 RBC tracked that one of its beneficiaries in the past was Viktor Sadovnichy. Mitotech has a close relationship with Moscow State University – this company has established LLC "Research Institute of Mitoengineering of Moscow State University". In addition, the official website states that six faculties, two research institutes and about 150 MSU employees are currently involved in working with "Skulachev ions".
In 2015 Rusnano estimated Mitotech's budget at 2.14 billion rubles, 692 million rubles of which accounted for the share of the state corporation. According to the representative of Rusnano, the corporation participates in the management of the company at the level of the board of directors and fully finances Mitotech, it plans to continue cooperation until the moment of withdrawal from investments, which is expected by 2020.
Disillusioned with investments in Mitotech, Alexander Chikunov decided to invest in the Screening project – a test of 1,000 medicines and dietary supplements on 15,000 mice, conducted by Alexey Ryazanov together with the Jackson Laboratory (USA). Scientists are trying to obtain substances that really prolong the life of rodents. The results of the experiments are still unknown, the amount of investment is known – $ 10 million.
The anti-aging project also has RVC in its portfolio. The company "Tartis-aging", owned by VEB, LLC "Biopharm Invest" and Mikhail Rychev (former deputy head of the Federal Agency for the Management of Special Economic Zones), is developing drugs aimed at the destruction of senescent cells, recognized by the project researchers as the cause of systematic aging and age-related pathologies. Their release is planned for 2018. Skolkovo, together with RVC funds, spent 150 million rubles on the project.
Happily ever after
"There are definitely prerequisites for the growth of the commercial gerontology market," believes Ksenia Medvedeva, head of the Medicine and Pharmaceuticals division of the research company MAR Consult. – Firstly, it is a capacious market. The share of the 55-60+ age group in the population structure is steadily growing. Already, it makes up 25% of the total number of residents of the Russian Federation. In 30 years, this share will grow to 35% – this is a third of the population! Secondly, it is a market with growing demand. The segment of elderly people that is being formed now is people born in the 1960s and 1970s. The time of change in Russia fell on their youth, so many of them were able to adapt to the market economy (unlike the older segment)."
Every five years, the share of "adapted" elderly consumers will increase, and the solvency of this segment will grow. Ksenia Medvedeva identifies four areas of development of commercial gerontology: goods and technologies that simplify everyday life and improve the quality of life; leisure services: recreation, entertainment, sports, tourism, wellness, etc.; cosmetology; medical developments in the field of slowing down the aging process. In the first three directions, the growth rate will be approximately the same, proportional to the growth in the size and purchasing power of this cluster of consumers. It is more difficult to talk about the medical direction: according to Ksenia Medvedeva, there is no eternal youth market yet, so the age structure of its audience is not obvious. "The niche of gerontological clinics is not occupied by anyone now and probably will not be occupied for a very long time. Investing in a rejuvenation clinic, the core of the target audience of which will be 55+ people, is impractical – this is a significant narrowing of commercial prospects. A more likely and commercially reasonable scenario is to adapt the product line and services and adjust the marketing strategy, taking into account the age of consumers," the expert believes. At the same time, the potential of the Russian gerontological market in MAR Consult is estimated at 150 billion rubles.
There are many billionaires in the world who are ready to invest in immortality. Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have invested together with Abbott's "daughter" $ 1.5 billion in a startup to study ways to extend the life of Calico.
Investments in eternal life are becoming more attractive than in IT technology.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
01.03.2017