ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 9 Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, presented Russia's first national "Industry" award to a biopharmaceutical company BIOCAD. The Company is developing a unique project called MabNext. Within the scope of MabNext project BIOCAD develops a number of innovative drugs based on monoclonal antibodies for treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The ceremony took place at the International Exhibition "Innoprom 2014" in Ekaterinburg.
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According to the Russian Ministry of Health, in the last 12 years the number of new cases of malignant tumors has increased by 11%. The steady increase in the number of cancer patients is a global trend. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in the next 20 years the number of new oncology patients in the world will reach the figure of 22 million cases per year. Therefore, Russia and the rest of the world are so desperately in need of new effective drugs that will help to overcome serious illnesses and save millions of lives.
BIOCAD is developing a wide portfolio of innovative products based on monoclonal antibodies for treatment of diseases such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
"Now the country is undergoing fundamental changes regarding availability of modern drugs for its people. Thanks to the support of Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Economic Development, Russian pharmaceutical companies are creating a powerful technologic basis for the production of innovative products and are competing successfully on the global pharmaceutical market. Of course, our foreign colleagues are not happy with this. However, now we can deliver innovative medicines that have no analogues in the world. The project MabNext is a bright example of this," said Dmitriy Morozov, CEO of BIOCAD.
The main advantage of products based on monoclonal antibodies, is that they affect only selected cells or molecules, in other words, these are targeted therapies. Only relevant targets are neutralized without affecting the healthy cells.
BIOCAD has more than 10 of such innovative products based on monoclonal antibodies at different stages of development. One of the most noticeable ones is an antibody specific for interleukin 17. Clinical trials of this drug will begin in 2014. The drug has no analogues on the market and its characteristics are superior to anti-IL17 antibodies being developed by foreign companies. This product has huge potential when it comes to the treatment of socially significant diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
If we talk about cancer - the company is at the stage of developing original products based on monoclonal antibodies against targets such as PD-1, HER3, Ang-2 and others. Antibodies for PD-1 increase ability of patient's immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells.
