Biomedical

By fostering an ecosystem of excellence aroundbiotechnology and medical technology, theSkolkovo Innovation Centre’s Biomedical Clusterhas put in motion a process that aspires to buildglobal market leaders in the life sciences industry.This cluster of internationally leading scientistsusing the latest facilities and techniques willenable us to produce cutting-edge research thatleads to innovative technologies, instruments andservices that will help improve the quality ofhealthcare worldwide.

Russia, as elsewhere in the industrialised world, isfacing the challenge of an ageing population thatis putting increasing pressure on both publicspending and the quality of healthcare – and thisdespite Russia having more physicians, hospitalsand health care workers per capita than any othercountry in the world. But Russia’s biomedicalindustry accounts for only 0.2% of the worldmarket and many Russian companies currentlyneed to conduct their research abroad.

To meet the challenges and reinforce Russia’sglobal performance in the sector, the BiomedicalCluster aspires to create a global research hubin Skolkovo to develop new and innovativesolutions to current and future health challenges.At the same time it seeks to commercialise theinnovations and to build a network/ecosystem ofexcellence tapping into expertise from aroundthe world.

To accomplish this mission, the cluster has iden-tified R&D priorities that not only reflect theglobal context, but also are informed by the

standards of best practice in leading scientificcentres around the world.

Thus, our cluster will prioritise the following sectorsof activity:

• Clinical medicine & healthcare

• Biomedical & life sciences

• Bioinformatics, and

• Industrial biotechnologies

The cluster will not only design and carry outinnovative research within these categories, but itwill also oversee the entire commercialisationprocess to transform technology from the labo-ratory into marketable world class goods andservices.

The Biomedical Cluster brings leading internationaland Russian scientists together with entrepreneursand venture capital funds. Cluster partners willhave at their disposal an array of cutting-edgeequipment, infrastructure and business services.90 companies including Johnson & Johnsonand its pharmaceutical branch JanssenPharma ceutica and Immunotech Developmentshave already joined the cluster which each weekreceives additional applications for corporateparticipation.

Our cluster is also rapidly developing strategicpartnerships with leading universities and researchinstitutes around the world. This truly globalnetwork includes:

• Harvard Medical School

• Tel Aviv University

• Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

• King’s College London

We also have strong support from a wide variety ofpublic and private partners within the RussianFederation. The Ministry of Health and SocialDevelopment, the Ministry of Industry and Tradeand the Ministry of Economic Developmentnumber among our partners as do major playersfrom Russia’s biomedical industry includingRVC, RUSNANO and EMBL. It is through the

construction of this dynamic ecosystem ofRussian and international companies, universitiesand public bodies that we can truly achieve ourvision and form a global innovation hub.

Prof Igor Goryanin is the Executive Director of theBiomedical cluster. In addition to his role inSkolkovo, Prof Goryanin holds the Henrik KacserChair in Computational Systems Biology at theUniversity of Edinburgh and heads the Laboratoryof Biological Systems, at the Okinawa Institute ofScience and Technology (Japan). Prof Goryanin iswell acquainted with working at the global levelwith international teams, having led several highprofile international collaborations with researchgroups across Europe, China, Japan and the USA.Prof Goryanin also has the commercial andentrepreneurial background essential to ensurethe cluster’s success, having co-founded and ledBiobank Inc., Russia.

For more information: http://www.sk.ru/en/

02

02Biomedical ClusterFactsheet

Mediakit

Factsheet

Russia has more physicians,hospitals and health care workers per capita than anyother country in the world, butboth its medical research andnative pharmaceutical marketare underdeveloped. TheBiomedical Cluster is designedto help transform Russia’spharmaceutical market into a$31.25 billion industry by 2015by attracting the biggest namesin medical research.

Nuclear

BiomedicalFactsheet

SpaceEnergyITSkolkovo0100 03 04 05

www.sk.ru/en

factsheet_Bio_final:Layout 1 15/01/12 23:27 Page 1