Rapid Bio

Rapid Bio was formed in April 2020. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the main activity of the company is scientific research and development in the field of natural and technical sciences.

The company is a resident of the Skolkovo Innovation Center and is registered in the Republic of Buryatia.

2021: The business of the manufacturer of tests for coronavirus, in which Lanit invested, took off

As TAdviser found out, the Procurement Agency of the Moscow Health Department purchased tests for the SARS-CoV-2-IHA express antigen coronavirus from the Rapid Bio manufacturer to conduct express testing^[1]. According to the contract concluded on October 15, 2021, a total of 21.44 thousand tests worth 3.1 million rubles were purchased.

Noteworthy in this competition is not the price and volumes, but, rather, business relations and terms of purchase. It was held as a single supplier, without a tender, on the basis of paragraph 9 of Part 1 of Art. 93 44-FZ "due to the need to purchase goods for the provision of medical care due to force majeure."

And the supplier was the manufacturer of drugs "R-Farm" Alexei Repik - a famous businessman, chairman of the public organization "Business Russia." According to Forbes, R-Farm earned the most of all Russian drug manufacturers in 2020^[2]. The company received 120.5 billion rubles of revenue and almost 18 billion rubles of profit over the year.

The registration certificate of Roszdravnadzor for an express test to detect antibodies to coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Bio received in the summer of 2020 "(photo - sk.ru)"

Prior to the development of the rapid coronavirus test, Rapid Bio founder Anzhei Zhimbiev, together with Semyon Pokatsky, who has been co-founder of this company since the fall of 2020, was engaged in the creation and promotion of the rapid test for determining stroke and concussion in the DRD Biotech project . Both of them are still listed on the DRD Biotech team on the company's website.

Alexei Repik became aware of them a few years ago. In 2017, the developers of DRD Biotech took part in the television competition of scientific startups "Idea for a Million" on NTV. One of the members of the jury of the project then was Alexei Repik. Despite the fact that another invention won the TV show, Repik spoke of his readiness to support the project of Zhimbiev and Pokatsky.

We are not just ready to support you financially, we, as the largest company that operates in the healthcare market of the Russian Federation, invite you to the STI HealthNet to help you with clinical research and funding of your program, "the founder of R-Farm said in 2017[3]

The name "Rapid Bio" gained more fame in October 2021, when Moscow announced a pilot project of rapid testing of students for coronavirus in 10 metropolitan schools. Testing is carried out every two weeks. Skolkovo, of which Rapid Bio is a resident, reported that the tests of this manufacturer will be used as part of this project^[4]. The Department of Science and Education says that express testing "is not a medical procedure." According to the order of the department, not only invited health workers, but also teachers or even parents themselves (within the "established schedule") can conduct testing.

Not everyone was satisfied with the initiative of rapid testing of schoolchildren on COVID-19. Some parents are trying to get the experiment canceled. According to the Kommersant newspaper, dissenting parents sent complaints to law enforcement agencies. The authors of the complaints refer, among other things, to open data, according to which the instructions for the Rapid Bio test system indicate the purpose "only for professional use"^[5].

Anzhey Zhimbiev in an interview with Interfax on October 15 said that Rapid Bio filed an application with Roszdravnadzor to change the rego-confidence of tests in order to exclude a clause on the need for professional use from the instruction.

Currently, tests say "For professional use," because initially, at the peak of the epidemic, express tests were used in medical institutions - the highest need for such tests was there. Now we have applied to Roszdravnadzor to remove this inscription from the packages and confirm the availability of the test for widespread use in everyday life. This application is already being considered, Interfax quotes Zhimbiev. - In the near future we expect approval of this application by Roszdravnadzor - it will happen literally in the coming days or week. Nothing will change in the test itself - this is the same medical product, technically there will be no differences[6]

Rapid Bio believes that if Moscow decides to extend express testing to all schools in the capital, and about a million children study in them, the company will be able to provide them with tests: "We are increasing production, a robotic line is already working. In the near future, new equipment will come in, which will help us provide tests not only to Moscow, but also to the whole of Russia. We are still delivering to most regions of the country^[7].

If the authorities decide to extend express testing of schoolchildren to all schools in Moscow, the volume of supplies of express tests can amount to billions of rubles, which would significantly spur Rapid Bio financial indicators. In 2020, the company's turnover amounted to about 221.4 million rubles, net profit - about 182.4 million rubles.

In Lanita, which invested in Rapid Bio in 2020, at the time of publication, they could not answer TAdviser's questions about cooperation with this company.

2020: Lanit invested in Rapid Bio

Lanit has invested in a company that develops tests for coronavirus. This was mentioned at the end of June at an online conference by Lanita President Philip Gens. The company later clarified to TAdviser that we are talking about Rapid Bio, a resident of the Skolkovo innovation center.

The volume and conditions of investments in Lanite are not disclosed. Rapid Bio also did not provide information about this.

According to the database of legal entities Contour. Focus"," Rapid Bio was created in the form of a microenterprise in mid-April 2020. Registered company in Buryatia, in. Ulan-Ude Its sole founder and member is listed. Anzhey Zhimbiev He is a co-founder of the company, DRD Biotech a developer of diagnostic and express tests, the key specialization of which is the diagnosis of brain damage.

Philip Gens spoke about investing in a developer of tests for coronavirus

DRD Biotech is a graduate of the GenerationS project, a platform for the development of corporate innovation. In an interview on the GenerationS website, Anzhey Zhimbiev said that the team began to develop a new test for coronavirus in March, and began to work out the issue back in February.

Currently, a PCR test is used in Russia. It is the gold standard for virus diagnosis. Our test is different in that we do not determine the presence of the virus, but the presence of antibodies to it, that is, the immune response. The test determines the presence of antibodies in the blood of IgM and IgG, "explained Zhimbiev[8].

In "Lanita" told TAdviser that on June 17, 2020, Rapid Bio received a registration certificate for an express test to determine antibodies IgG and IgM to SARS-COV-2. The test is able to detect antibodies in serum, plasma or whole blood in 10 minutes. Tests of the test showed its high diagnostic sensitivity - 96%. As of the beginning of July, the company is embarking on the industrial release of tests at the Skolkovo production site, Lanita added.

In an interview with GenerationS, Anzhey Zhimbiev said that Russia still lacks funding for the biotech startup industry. It is necessary to develop both sowing investments and investments of stages A and B, he said. To implement the project for the creation and production of tests for coronavirus, Rapid Bio also received a grant from the Skolkovo Foundation and support from the regional Industrial Development Fund of the Republic of Buryatia^[9].

Lanit does not stand aside from finding a solution to the problem that has gripped the whole world. If we can do something useful in the current situation, we, of course, do it and we will do it, "TAdviser said in the company.

Investments in the developer of coronavirus tests are part of the Lanita activities associated with the pandemic. Philip Gens earlier at the conference said that Lanit has many projects. For example, the company does quite a lot with the DIT of Moscow, he said.

Lanit also developed a solution using augmented reality technologies that helps doctors work in "dirty" areas. It was introduced in several metropolitan hospitals. According to Gens, this project was supported by Intel's international foundation to combat COVID-19.

We are without profit, in some cases we help free of charge in the development of both software and infrastructure to combat coronavirus, "added Philip Gens.

See also

Coronavirus COVID-19

COVID-19 coronavirus tests

Notes