Russian start-up develops new drug to fight infertility

Bioprocess Capital Ventures, a VC fund set up by Russian Venture Company, is expected to finance a Russian effort to develop a drug for infertility.

Bioprocess Capital Ventures, a VC fund set up by Russian Venture Company (RVC), has announced plans to finance Ayviks, a Russian company working to develop an innovation drug to stimulate the reproductive function and fight infertility, the RVC website announced late last week. How much the fund will invest has yet to be specified. The new drug will reportedly be developed on the basis of what is known as signal peptide. The peptide is said to be unique in its peculiar impact on the central nervous system. It is also believed to be of similar nature to peptides generated in the human body, which is assumed to make the use of such peptides as safe for patients as possible. At the heart of the new project are innovation ideas suggested by scientists from the Institute of Molecular Genetics, one of Russia?s leading research centers operating under the umbrella of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ayviks is expected to use the money in this round of VC funding to focus on the development of a reproductive stimulant for women and on further R&D aimed at studying other possible therapeutic effects the new drug candidate might have...