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Rusnano to Help Develop New Medicines

Rusnano said Tuesday that it will back a $160 million project to develop medicines for cancer and AIDS in Russia.

A joint venture created by Rusnano and research center Chemrar will develop five new medicines that will be brought to market from 2013 to 2016, including drugs for AIDS, pancreatic cancer and hepatitis C, Rusnano said.

After the project begins, as many as 10 additional medicines will be developed to diversify the company's portfolio, said Tatyana Nikolenko, director of infrastructure programs at Rusnano.

The government has set the goal of producing at least 200 medicines domestically by 2020 to replace imports and develop Russia's modest pharmaceuticals industry.

The plan, set in the government's Pharma 2020 strategy, "is now starting to look realistic," Nikolenko told reporters at a briefing.

The project will have a total value of 5.1 billion rubles ($160 million), with Rusnano investing 1.2 billion rubles and a co-investor contributing 1.35 billion rubles, Nikolenko said, declining to give the co-investor's name for commercial reasons.

The remaining 2.6 billion rubles is the value of the rights to sell the trial drugs, which will be contributed by Chemrar.

Rusnano will hold about 25 percent in the company, while Chemrar will own a controlling stake in the firm.

Annual revenue for the company may reach 1.1 billion rubles by 2015 and is likely to range from 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion rubles in 2017 to 2019, Rusnano said.

The venture is among 29 prospective projects in the pharmaceuticals sector getting support from the presidential commission on modernization.

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