The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and the partnership of chemical institutes Orchemed held a press conference and business networking event on 25 May 2011 at the business center of the Academy of Sciences in Chernogolovka, Moscow region. The event underlined the completion of an ISTCproject to upgrade a preclinical testing facility to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards. The $2.3 million investment, funded by theUS Bioindustry Initiative (BII), allowed the creation of one of the only preclinical testing facilities in the Russian Federation that can perform trials for international pharmaceutical companies. This achievement is the results of 5 years of close collaboration between US and Russian scientists.

"At this occasion, I would like to underline that the Orchemed project is a good example of what ISTC can achieve i.e. bringing scientists together and providing tools for further development to the benefit of science, technology developers and business. GLP Standards are very strict and they concern every aspect of preclinical testing, from staff training to manipulation of animals and the construction of the building itself. Reaching those standards is an important accomplishment. ISTC is proud to have been part of this project", said the ISTC Executive Director, Adriaan van der Meer.

The Orchemed partnership (http://www.orchemed.ru/) is a non profit initiative that regroups 13 of the best chemical institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It identifies promising compounds, performs GLP preclinical safety and efficacy training, and protects and licenses compounds to Russian and foreign pharmaceutical companies for further development, regulatory approval and market adoption. Orchemed is the only cooperative partnership of the kind in Russia. These updates will reinforce Russia’s capacity to develop and license novel drugs for local and global market.

The Director of Orchemed, Konstantin Balakin, stated: “This project will have an important impact on the institutes member of the Orchemed partnership. We now have better tools to take our compounds out of our laboratories to the people who really need them. I would like to thank all our partners in this enterprise, especially ISTC and the US BioIndustry Initiative who provided expertise to carry out this project.”

Orchemed Presentation (download)