Russia's R-Pharm to invest $50 million in development of new drugs and vaccines

R-Pharm, one of Russia’s largest pharmaceutical producers, together with Russian Venture Company (RVC) have officially announced the establishment of a venture capital fund that will focus on funding research in the field of pharmaceutics, as well as the development of new vaccines and drugs, according to Alexey Repik, chairman of R-Pharm.

The new fund will be known as Russbio Ventures and, according to its head Alexey Konov, will have a budget of 2 billion roubles (around $50 million) at the initial stage, which could be increased up to 5 billion roubles in 2015. It is planned that at least 50% of the budget of the new fund will be invested in the domestic market, while the remaining 50% in abroad.

According to Mr Konov, Russbio Ventures plans to use the practice of syndicated transactions with the world's leading venture capital funds. He also said that the new fund plans to invest in the development of new drugs and vaccines, the development of new technology solutions, as well as the production of medical devices. It is planned that at the initial stage portfolio of the new fund will include eight-10 companies.