Palmira Biopharma

Fibrotic Disorders & Chronic Liver Cirrhosis

• Product Candidate: PDGFRα-hFc Antagonist.
• The Unmet Need: Irreversible tissue scarring (Metavir stages F3–F4 cirrhosis), inevitably driving liver failure and transplant dependency. The market lacks any selective biological therapies capable of active scar regression.
• Our Solution: Pathogenetic blockade of the PDGF-alpha signaling pathway. It halts mesenchymal cell proliferation and actively degrades (lyses) the excessive extracellular collagen matrix, restoring healthy organ compliance

Advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis & Severe Uveitis

• Product Candidate: TNFR1-hinge-Fc Inhibitor.
• The Unmet Need: Chronic autoimmune destruction of joint cartilage and ocular tissues. Standard monoclonal antibodies suffer from steep production costs and trigger high rates of neutralizing anti-drug antibodies (ADA).
• Our Solution: A high-affinity recombinant molecule configured with an optimized structural hinge region. It delivers nanomolar binding affinity (~1 nM) to neutralize TNF\(\alpha \) safely, preventing immune rejection during long-term maintenance therapy.

Chronic Systemic Inflammatory & Autoimmune Diseases (Gout & CRS)

• Product Candidate: IL-1RA-hFc / IL-6R(D358A)-hFc Antagonists.
• The Unmet Need: Severe hyperinflammatory cascades, such as acute gouty flares and systemic Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). Standard flexible peptide linkers carry steep risks of prion-like aggregate formation and immunogenicity.
• Our Solution: Next-generation interleukin and cytokine buffer blockers engineered with a proprietary, ultra-short rigid RS-linker and the protective D358A mutation. This architecture completely eliminates neo-epitope creation, ensuring zero off-target toxicity and extending plasma half-life to enable a once-monthly dosing regimen.

Tissue Perfusion Restoration: 

Application of the Hypoxyprobe diagnostic marker in ischemic in vivo models verified a statistically significant (p < 0.05) elimination of deep muscular tissue hypoxemia

Active Collagen Lysis: 

Quantitative morphometric analysis via Sirius Red staining confirmed a reduction in fibrotic scar volume of over 40% compared to untreated control cohorts

Ultra-High Purity: 

Three-stage chromatographic downstream processing on ÄKTA automated systems guarantees monomeric fraction purity 98.5%, with aggregate content restricted to 1.0%.

Host Cell Decontamination: 

Host Cell Proteins (CHOP) are verified via ELISA at < 100 ppm, and residual host CHO-DNA is restricted to < 10 pg per therapeutic dose.

Multi-Tiered Viral Clearance: 

Upstream-downstream cycles feature fully validated viral filtration through nano-membranes (20-nm nominal pore size, Log Reduction Value LRV  4.0 log₁₀) and low-pH viral inactivation (pH 3.50, LRV 4.5 log₁₀).

Anti-Fibrotic & Oncology Candidate (PDGFRα-hFc): 

Patent RU 2821574 C1 — Protects a highly selective protein decoy that intercepts PDGF-B and -D ligands. Actively degrades extracellular collagen matrix in liver cirrhosis and starves tumor stroma.

Anti-Inflammatory & Gout Candidate (IL-1RA-hFc): 

Patent RU 2821896 C1 (Issued June 2024) — Protects an ultra-safe interleukin receptor antagonist engineered with a proprietary, ultra-short rigid RS-linker. Completely eliminates prion-like aggregation behaviors and anti-drug antibody (ADA) immunogenicity risks common in standard flexible GGGGS linkers

Cytokine Buffer Candidate [IL-6R(D358A)-hFc]: 

Patent RU 2818329 C1 (Issued May 2024) — Protects a buffer blocker targeting the pathological trans-signaling pathway of Interleukin-6 based on a protective Asp358Ala (D358A) amino acid substitution, suppressing systemic inflammation while preserving core host anti-infectious defense mechanisms

Autoimmune & Arthritis Candidate (TNFR1-hinge-Fc): 

Patent RU 2689522 C1 — Protects a high-affinity TNFα blocker configured with an optimized structural hinge region, allowing independent domain movement and delivering nanomolar binding affinity (~1 nM)

Global IP Transition Marker: 

All 5 core architectural molecules have successfully transitioned from the international PCT phase into National Phases in the United States (USPTO) and Europe (EPO), fully managed and validated by the Skolkovo Intellectual Property Center

PROF. ANNA MALASHICHEVA, DSc (Director of R&D / Cell Biology): 

Full Professor and a leading international scientist in cellular biology and molecular Notch-signaling pathways. Author of over 70 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact international journals. Lead designer and co-inventor of the platform's advanced protein architectures. Manages the complete in vitro and in vivo bioanalytical validation track

PROF. ALSU SAIFITDINOVA, DSc (Chief Geneticist):

Full Professor and a renowned expert in genetic engineering, molecular genetics, and expression vector design. Co-inventor of the platform’s proprietary nucleotide sequences. Leads the gene-engineering block, recombinant plasmid design, and stability auditing of the commercial CHO-S banks

VYACHESLAV SEMENIKHIN — Chief Executive Officer (CEO): 

Alumnus of the Faculty of Biology, Saint Petersburg State University. Over 20 years of top-tier senior corporate, operational, and P&L leadership inside global market leaders and financial institutions (Mars, Carlsberg, Citibank). Technology entrepreneur

Low Finished Good COGS: 

Total manufacturing and finished good cost per vial (4mg dose) is optimized at 350 RUB (appr 4 USD)

Exceptional Price Premium: 

Projected national state procurement price under the High-Cost VMP/Vital Drug channels stands at 94,000 RUB per vial, yielding a Gross Margin of 95%+

Commercial Resiliency: 

The platform delivers a premium LTV:CAC ratio of 10.4 : 1. Full operational cost break-even (BEP) is achieved by capturing just ~11% of the primary local CLI market (5,665 patients per year). Projected Net Profit by 2034 reaches 12.6 billion RUB

Strategic Exit Scenario (2028 Horizon): 

International Out-licensing transaction or a corporate M&A buyout by Big Pharma by 2028 upon generating human Proof-of-Concept data via upcoming combined Phase I/II clinical trials in the region. Targeted Return on Investment: IRR > 75% (3x–5x valuation step-up)

SemiFinalist of The 10th Dongsheng Cup International Entrepreneurship Competition 

concluded in December 2022. Co-hosted alongside major international innovation forums, the global competition featured tech and biotech startups from 37 countries—including notable finalist and award-winning projects from Russia and teams like HK-Dtech—focusing on commercialization, funding, and cross-border acceleration

The winner of the Moscow Innovator competition 

is the third edition of the annual Moscow Mayor's Prize, which recognizes the best innovative inventions and technology projects. Applications were accepted in several key categories, including medicine, transportation, artificial intelligence, and ecology

The Finalist of "Open BRICS" (Open БРИКС) program 

from the Moscow cluster is an innovation and business acceleration program organized by the Moscow Innovation Agency (under the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development of the City of Moscow)

The winner of Pharmbiotech contest

The winners of the PharmBioTech 2023 selection, a competition for innovative developments in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology organized by Skolkovo (VEB.RF Group) and the R-Pharm Group, have been announced. The three teams that presented the most interesting innovative products in the competition will receive comprehensive support to advance their technologies in real economic conditions.

PharmBioTech is the first pharmaceutical and biotechnology competition from leading industrial companies, aimed at addressing market needs. Applications were accepted from teams at various stages of implementing innovative technologies. The competitive selection process received 54 applications across 17 therapeutic areas, of which 33 advanced to the semifinals

A Grant from Moscow Innovation Cluster

A Grant from Buyer

A Dimploma from Mayer of Moscow

June 2021: We are the finalists of "Innovator of Moscow 2021" contest

After a careful selection process our project became a finalist in the category @Project of the Future in the @Pharmaceutics and Medicine stream. There were 740 participants, and our team is proud to compete with many strong candidates

How does a trap look like

The structure of Aflibercept (Eylea), a fusion protein, made using "trap" technology by Ivan Lobov and a team. This drug is the one among the most prominent pharmaceutical blockbusters with 8,3 Billion annual sales worldwide in 2017

Drug design and discovery

In the fields of medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered. Drug discovery is a complex process taking in average 6 years of specific research before the pre-clinical tasting. We are proud to claim that we have 6 molecules ready for pre-clinical and the one is already in pre-clinical stage...

Biopharmaceutical production process

The global biopharmaceutical portfolio of today reflects increased therapeutic competition, a greater prevalence of large molecule drugs and expansion in the number of personalized or targeted products. This 2+ minute animation from Repligen Corp provides a simple explanation of the process for manufacturing a biopharmaceutical drug. It includes a description of "upstream" fermentation and "downstream" capture and purification of the biologic product, using monoclonal antibodies as an example

Medical Animation: how do molecules work

Monoclonal antibodies are a growing class of biological agents for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Scientists are now looking at ways to modify their structure, to optimize their function within the body. This includes conjugating small molecular inhibitors to antibodies, so that the combined molecule can deliver the active ingredient to a highly specific site within the body

The preclinical studies of Dll4

The article reports that Dll4 expression is dynamically regulated by VEGF in the retinal vasculature, where it is most prominently expressed at the leading front of actively growing vessels. Deletion of a single Dll4 allele or pharmacologic inhibition of Dll4/Notch signaling by intraocular administration of either soluble Dll4-Fc or a blocking antibody against Dll4 all produced the same set of characteristic abnormalities in the developing retinal vasculature, most notably enhanced angiogenic sprouting and increased endothelial cell proliferation, resulting in the formation of a denser and more highly interconnected superficial capillary plexus. The data demonstrate that Dll4 promotes the timely formation of a well differentiated vascular network

FC-fusion protein (trap) Eylea is in a top-selling pharma drug in 2020

A flagship eye treatment, Eylea (aflibercept), created by Ivan Lobov and a team, became one of the bestselling drug in the world, adding US $7.9 billion in total sales.

Examples of traps

Over the past three decades, 45 monoclonal antibody (MAbs) and MAb-derivative products have been approved for therapeutic use in the United States. One class of antibody derivatives is growing in importance: Fc-fusion proteins

The prize from Agency for Entrepreneurship & Development of Innovation

November, the 30th: We have received the "Big Check" of support from DPIR, the Innovative development agency of Moscow government

Moscow mayor congratulates the innovators

October, the 22nd: The ceremony of awarding the winners of the Novator of Moscow Mayor's Prize took place in the capital's mayor's office. Authors of 18 unique projects became laureates.

6-min presentation of "Angiogenocept" (hDll4-hFc) project

English version (voice-over) of a presentation

Finalists at the 10th Dongsheng CUP International Entrepreneurship competition

A great news that our Biopharma project become a finalist of the 10th Dongsheng CUP International Entrepreneurship competition: participants were from 37 countries, including 6th strong representatives from Russia. For this year, Competition is included in the ‘9th China-Russia Engineering and Technology Forum’ , co-hosting by CAST (China Association for Science and Technology), Russian Union of Scientific and Engineering Associations, and Tianjin Municipal Government, attributed to be the highest annual event in STI between our two contries. Will keep you posted as a date of Finals is coming. The winners to be anounced on the 8th of December 2022 a day after the the final pitches.