Aided by assistance from a benevolent government, a team of energetic, young Russian scientists in a small startup at the Skolkovo Innovation Center suddenly discover the cure to cancer. It’s a monumental breakthrough, but what follows next is a bitter struggle over the patent rights, and the scientists find themselves beset by American Big Pharma and Russian oligarchs. Then, one of the scientists is falsely accused of murder, and it’s up to a small-time prosecutor to uncover the diabolical scheme.
This is the plot of a new film, titled “The Patent,” a detective drama now in production, with funding from Russia’s Culture Ministry.
“Our film is about a moral choice,” Vasily Zverev, the general producer told the website Rusbase. “What do you do in this difficult situation? Chase personal enrichment, or listen to the voice of your conscience?”
Several scenes in the movie are reportedly being filmed at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a technology business area outside Moscow, where corporations and individuals are “hosted” with state financial assistance.
The center was first announced in late 2009 by then President Dmitry Medvedev, whose presidency focused on reviving Russia’s entrepreneurial spirit.
