The Skolkovo Foundation’s biomed cluster, which includes an agrotech division, signed two agreements with agricultural companies on Thursday at the second day of the Open Innovations forum.
Kirill Kaem, left, and Alexei Kuznetsov, head of RusChemBio, shake on the deal on Thursday. Photo: Sk.ru.
Under the agreements, a potato-growing concern and a company working on veterinary medicine will both open R&D centres at the Skolkovo innovation hub.
“We’re very glad to be entering into this joint project with Skolkovo: together, we have a good future and good prospects,” said Alexander Chuenko, head of Doka-Gennye Tekhnologii, a group of companies that has been cultivating various kinds of potatoes for decades and works on the pure line selection of potatoes.
Having access to pure lines, whether in crops or animals, allows the desired genetic characteristics to be maintained. If a country doesn’t have access to pure lines of a certain crop or animal, it has to buy from other countries.
“Access to pure lines in agriculture is a big issue, and it’s a question of national security,” said Kirill Kaem, head of Skolkovo’s biomed cluster, who signed both agreements on behalf of the foundation.
The biomed cluster is working on plans for a genetics centre aimed at ending Russia’s reliance on other countries for pure lines in response to a call by President Vladimir Putin last year for the country to become self-sufficient by 2020.
Kirill Kaem and Alexander Chuenko sign the agreement. Photo: Sk.ru.
“One of our tasks is to support the development of pure lines,” said Kaem, adding that potatoes are the main source of carbohydrates for Russians.
Chuenko said in terms of potato farming, Russia does not lag behind its foreign counterparts in any way.
“The presidential decree is allowing us to take a revolutionary step into the future,” said Chuenko, referring to Putin’s order for the country to become self-sufficient.
The second agreement was signed with RusChemBio, a portfolio company of state venture capital vehicle Rusnano.
RusChemBio’s R&D centre will work on developing new medicines and vaccines for animals in agriculture, many of which are currently imported.
“There’s a lot of ideas we’d like to make a reality,” said Alexei Kuznetsov, head of RusKhimBio.
“The first is mycotoxins, which are very harmful. There is a system for identifying them on our market, but unfortunately it’s foreign. We have some projects, and with Skolkovo’s help, we’d like to turn them into a commercial solution.”
Kuznetsov said that 90 percent of the market devoted to fighting mycotoxins in Russia was currently taken up by the foreign product, while the remaining 5-10 percent is products made by Russian companies. Amid economic sanctions and rising prices, demand for his company’s product is guaranteed, he said, adding that their solution is innovative and therefore also has export potential - key requirements for products made in Skolkovo.
Agrotech was added to the portfolio of Skolkovo’s biomed cluster last year.
“We’re getting more and more startups in that area now: we already have about 50 resident companies,” said Kaem.