Dmitry Medvedev visited the first Skolkovo’s Innovation City building, the “Hypercube”, held the Modernization and Innovations Council meeting there and made a brief welcome speech at a biomed conference, held by the Skolkovo Foundation there.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian premier and head of the Skolkovo’s Board of Trustees held the Modernization and Innovation Council Under the President of the Russian Federation meeting on the territory of the Skolkovo innovation center.
Before the Council’s session the premier, followed by Skolkovo’s president Viktor Vekselberg took a quick tour around the new ultramodern “Hypercube”, the very first building, erected on the territory of the Innovation City.
Dmitry Medvedev talked to Skolkovo’s residents, which have just recently moved into the “Hypercube”. Prime minister also examined stands and expositions of several global companies, key partners of the Foundation. Among them were Cisco, Siemens, IBM and Johnson&Johnson. These companies have also opened their offices in the “Hypercube”. The companies presented the premier their technological innovations, which they plan to further develop in their R&D centers on the territory of the innovation city.
In his welcome speech Dmitry Medvedev said: “Those, who are investing now in the biomed technologies their intellectual and financial resources will reach a success for sure.” He also said that the key for this success lies in patience, along with those opportunities, which the Skolkovo Innovation Center offers for its residents. “And I am particularly pleased with the fact that this is the very first conference, held right in Skolkovo’s premises,” the premier said. He also noted that he had seen many acquaintances there and wished success to all participants of the conference.
When opening the meeting of the Council on Innovation and Modernization Dmitry Medvedev congratulated the Skolkovo Foundation with the Secial Jury Award, received by the Foundation at the Venice Architectural Biennale on August 29.
Veronika Skvortsova, the Russian Minister of Health and Social Development, presented for the Council on Innovation and Modernization a concept of most promising Russian projects in the area of biomedical technology.
"The Skolkovo’s conference on Biomedicine is very important, as it’s exactly the sphere, where we should expect most achievements in health treatment,” the minister said. As Skvortsova said, Russia has a chance within the period of up to 2016 to implement a number of important innovative scientific breakthroughs. Promising projects include new cell products for the regeneration of human organs, cellular transport of drugs for cancer treatment, innovations in preventive medicine, new vaccines and neurocomputing in medicine.
According to Skvortsova, these breakthrough technologies will help Russia by 2016 to implement various advanced projects, mostly related to cell medicine. Among them cancer monitoring, targeted drugs transportation to metastatic cells, which will cure a number of previously incurable cancer malignancy; vaccine to cure previously untreatable forms of tuberculosis, regeneration and the creation of such human organs as esophagus, urethra, etc., using patient’s own cells.
Dmitry Medvedev concluded the Innovation and Modernization Council meeting by saying that he was ready to support “at first approximation” those proposals, which were voiced by ministers, Skolkovo’s residents and key partners of the Foundation. He also said that the “work on biomed issues done today is a continuation of efforts, undertaken two weeks ago in Penza (where the strategy of medicine industry development was discussed).”
“I am quite satisfied that we have acquired our first home here at Skolkovo, first but not the least, as I see that there construction sites all over the place,” the premier said.
“I hope that we’ll be getting together here quite often, holding housewarming events in different places,” said Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister and head of Skolkovo’s Board of Trustees.