Rusnano and Other Russian Investors
Rusnano is a Russian state-owned equity and venture capital fund. It was set up in 2007 as a state-owned corporation with an investment level of $9 billion, but reorganized in 2011 as a joint-stock company. It has a mandate to develop the nanotech industry in Russia by investing in companies in order to develop and commercialize nanotech-based products in Russia with the goal of nanotech sales reaching $40 billion by 2015. As of June 2012, approximately 20 percent of the funds were to be directed to projects in the life sciences.
Investments and commitments by Rusnano and other Russian investors in biotech activities have been announced as follows:
1: Investments in Venture Funds by Russian Organizations:
Venture Fund/Location/Investor/Fund Value
Domain Associates/U.S./Rusnano (50%)/$760 million
Burrill Capital Fund IV/U.S./Rusnano (40%)/$500 million
Maxwell Biotech/U.S.-Russia/Russian Venture Company/$100 million
RVC Intrafund/Russia/Russian Venture Company/$68 million
RVC Biofund/Russian Venture Company/$50 million
2: Russian Investments in Companies:
Company/Location/Investor/Commitment
ProBonoBil U.K./Russia/Rusnano/$300 million
Nearmedic Plus/Russia/Rusnano/$41 million
Magnisense/France/Rusnano/$38 million
SynBio/Russia/Rusnano/$31 million
Panacela Laboratories/U.S./Rusnano/$26 million
BIND Biosciences/U.S./Rusnano/$25 million
Selecta Biosciences/U.S./Rusnano/$25 million
BIOptics/U.S./Rusnano/$5 million
CardioNova/Russia/Maxwell Biotech/$1–5 million
Hepatera/Russia/Maxwell Biotech/$1–5 million
Infectex/Russia/Maxwell Biotech/$1–5 million
MetaMax/Russia/Maxwell Biotech/$1–5 million
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO RUSNANO:
BIND Biosciences (Cambridge, Mass.): Development in Russia of therapeutic nanoparticles for use in addressing solid tumors, inflammatory, and cardiovascular diseases. http://www.bindbio.com/content/pages/company/aboutrussia.jsp
Selecta Biosciences (Watertown, Mass.): Development in Russia of synthetic vaccine nanoparticles that encapsulate adjuvant and either a T-cell epitope or allergen in a polylactic acid-co-glycolic acid core surrounded by a lipid monolayer and a PEG shell decorated with a B-cell epitope.
Panacela Labs (Buffalo, N.Y.): A 4-year venture between Rusnano ($9 million) and Cleveland BioLabs ($3 million) for an oncology subsidiary.
BiOptix Diagnostics (Boulder, Colo.): Development of a surface plasmon-enhanced interferometer-detector for label-free bioassays.
http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i16/Russian-Investors-Bankroll-biotech.html?h=1167136384. Accessed July 7, 2012.