New $212m chemical and pharma cluster mapped out for Volgograd

A new $212m chemical and pharmaceutical cluster to manufacture Russian innovation drugs is expected to break ground in January 2014 in Volgograd, in the Lower Volga area.

A new chemical and pharmaceutical cluster is expected to break ground in January 2014 in Volgograd, in the Lower Volga area, pharma portal Remedium.ru reported. The source quoted Ekaterina Golod, a spokesperson for the Volgograd governor, as saying that ?this will be a modern pharmaceutical site with an R&D center to produce? up to thirty different types of Russian innovation drugs.? When the construction phase must be completed has yet to be specified. Ms. Golod only said that the project would require a total investment of ?about $212m.? The project initiator is Volgograd Medical University. To develop technology and promote small-sized entrepreneurship within the prospective chemical and pharmaceutical cluster a special university spin-off has been set up, called ?Medbiopharm-2020 Scientific and Production Firm.? The company is said to be developing brand new balneal substances and therapeutic drugs based on what is known as bischofite, a hydrous magnesium chloride mineral and an ancient sea salt concentrate dated from the Permian Period some 200 million years ago...