Uninova (Yuninova)

Uninova specializes in the treatment of oncological, dermatological and rheumatological diseases.

History

2023: Centre closure

In St. Petersburg, the Uninova medical center, which belonged to the co-owner of Biocad Dmitry Morozov, was closed. This became known in early November 2023.

As Kommersant writes with reference to the materials of the Russian Auction House, the complex of buildings in which the medical center was located was put up for auction with an initial price of 249.5 million rubles. The announcement says that the complex is an object of cultural heritage "Oryol-Novosiltsevskaya almshouse," built in the middle of the XIX century.

The complex of buildings that previously housed the Uninova Medical Center

The fact that Uninova does not work is evidenced by Yandex.Maps. The official website of the organization also does not function. The press service of "Biocad" does not comment on the termination of the clinic, noting that they are not related to the project.

According to the SPARK-Interfax system, ANO MICLT Yuninova '(legal entity Uninova) was registered in St. Petersburg in 2018. The main activity of the company is the activities of hospital organizations, as well as scientific research and development in the field of biotechnology. The founders were not disclosed by early November 2023.

The head physician of the private ambulance "KORIS" Lev Averbakh in the closure of the medical center does not see anything "supernatural," calling it a "normal business process." Among the possible reasons, he calls the lack of personnel, the high cost of equipment and consumables, a decrease in demand.

Competition among private clinics is now increasing. It is quite difficult for new players to overcome barriers associated, for example, with the complexity of legislation to conduct medical business. Regulatory regulation requires increasing costs from healthcare organizations, regardless of the form of ownership. This applies, in particular, to the costs of digitalization, connection to a single state information system, which is a prerequisite. There is also a shortage of highly professional personnel, "said Alexander Solonin, head of the Association of Private Clinics of St. Petersburg, in a conversation with the publication.[1]

2020: Opening of the centre

On October 7, 2020, it became known that the Uninova Research Medical Center, specializing in the treatment of oncological, dermatological and rheumatological diseases, had begun work. Investments in the project amounted to 285 million rubles of borrowed funds. The center is located in three buildings with a total area of ​ ​ 2447.9 sq.m., the throughput capacity of a round-the-clock hospital is 5,470 bed-days a year, in a day hospital more than 5 thousand patients will be able to receive the necessary therapy in two shifts. The Center received a medical license in June 2020.

According to the project, the return on investment is estimated at 5 years. The main funds were used to adapt historical buildings in accordance with modern requirements for the provision of medical services and for the purchase of equipment. The center is located in the Vyborg district, on a protected area between pr. Engels, Novorossiyskaya Street and Novosiltsevsky Lane, and occupies 3 separate buildings: an outpatient and polyclinic building, a round-the-clock hospital and an administrative building.

The center is equipped with medical and laboratory equipment, including brands such as Philips, Omron Electronics, Armed, Mindray, KaWe, ARKRAY, Eppendorf, ELMI, etc. The purchased equipment relates to expert class equipment and allows specialists to obtain reliable data on the patient's condition in a timely manner. Own express laboratory reduces the time for the doctor to make a decision on changing the treatment regimen, adjustments, which is important when conducting chemotherapy in cancer patients.

The active period of equipment procurement fell on the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus infection pandemic, - said Nikita Efimov, chief physician of Uninova. - Of course, quarantine introduced certain difficulties into the procurement process, we faced problems in logistics related to the closure of borders between countries, with a shortage of certain groups of medical products due to increased demand. But despite the difficulties, we managed to provide the center with full equipment in a timely manner.

When recruiting personnel, the Center, due to the coronavirus, had restrictions on the employment of part-time workers, including narrow specialists, who are very difficult to find on the market. At the same time, difficulties prompted the management to develop a detailed plan for the development of young specialists.

According to the management of Uninova, the center will work in the middle price segment in order to provide a large circle of Petersburgers with genetically engineered drugs. It is planned to include the Center in the compulsory medical insurance system, which will allow its patients to receive biological and immune therapy from domestic and foreign manufacturers. Also, clinical trials will be carried out at the Center, within the framework of which patients will be able to access topical drugs that are not yet on the mass market. In accordance with the international industry standard (GCP), the clinic plans to conduct phase 1 clinical trials, bioequivalence, phase 2-4 clinical trials in patients.

Due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the country, the grand opening of the Center was decided to be replaced with individual excursions for special guests. Uninova was visited by the head of BIOCADDmitriy Morozov, the director of the St. Petersburg TFCMI Alexander Kuzhel, as well as the chief freelance oncologist of the city Dmitry Gladyshev.

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