The All—Russian Festival of Young Scientists "Pharma is Love" has ended in Saransk

In Saransk, scientists and industry experts identified the most striking solutions for young researchers in the field of pharmaceutical product development. As part of the closing ceremony of the Pharma is Love festival, the participants and the expert council were congratulated by the Head of the Republic of Mordovia, Artyom Zdunov. The festival, organized by the biopharmaceutical company PROMOMED, was held from October 21 to 23 at the Ogarev National Research Mordovian State University.

"Our republic is seriously committed to supporting young professionals. Biotechnological and biological classes are appearing even in schools and kindergartens. A person should come to the profession gradually, step by step. We are waiting for all the specialists and are ready to fight for everyone. Mordovia is a region for which pharmaceuticals and everything related to it are an absolute priority," said Artyom Zdunov. 

Practice-oriented cases were a key element of the festival program. The student track discussed how to predict deviations in the quality of pharmaceutical batches in advance and control mRNA preparations more precisely. The participants proposed solutions for the development of an RNA vaccine against swine flu, a personalized mRNA vaccine in combination with beta-glucans, as well as experimental approaches to overcoming tumor resistance to treatment. A separate area was the search for medicinal candidates from natural compounds for the treatment of liver and breast cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes mellitus. 

Photo: press service of the Head of the Republic of Mordovia

 In the postgraduate track, the participants focused on developments related to production scaling, new dosage forms, and targeted drug delivery. The Ogarev Moscow State University team presented a model that helps identify critical parameters of the pharmaceutical process during the transition from laboratory to industrial scale. PROMOMED graduate students suggested testing whether the addition of Brainmax® could ¹ to improve the treatment of mild dementia in Alzheimer's disease with donepezil. The solutions presented are at various stages of development, from digital prototypes and scientific data analysis to preclinical research concepts.

According to the results of the defense, the jury, which included academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientists of the Ogarev Moscow State University, and PROMOMED experts, noted the top three solutions.  The team of Ivanovo State University (IvSU) with the case "RNA-vaccine platform for veterinary medicine" became the winner in the student track. The second was the project of the team of the Faculty of Fundamental Medicine of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU FFM) — "mRNA therapy of melanoma resistant to immunotherapy". The three leaders were rounded out by the National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" (NRU MEPhI) with the case "Quality control of biological products at the level of single particles".

In the postgraduate track, the first place was awarded to the team of the D. G. Knorre Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHBFM SB RAS) for their work "Targeted delivery of siRNA outside the liver". The silver medalist was the team of the National Research Mordovian State University named after N. P. Ogarev (Ogarev Moscow State University), which presented the case "Forecasting the pharmaceutical process with scaling". The bronze award was given to the PROMMED corporate postgraduate team with the project "New product opportunities in the portfolio of existing molecules".

The jury awarded a special prize "For innovation and non-standard thinking" to the IHBFM SB RAS team. The jury's sympathy prize was awarded to the team of the I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for the project "Antitumor vaccination and trained innate immunity".

"Over these three days, Saransk has become a center of attraction for talented youth and leading experts in the pharmaceutical industry. This scale once again confirms the relevance of the format and the growing interest in practice-oriented training of specialists. The festival gave everyone the opportunity to express themselves, present their own practical developments, and test new ideas that are as close as possible to the real challenges of the industry. We see that young specialists are already able to offer solutions that meet the current challenges of the pharmaceutical industry. And this is precisely the main value of the festival, which forms the human resources potential of the industry, strengthening the link between the academic environment and production," said Larisa Balykova, Acting Rector of the Ogarev Moscow State University. 

PROMOMED's strategic focus is on supporting scientific research and finding breakthrough solutions in the pharmaceutical industry, including through systematic work with young people. The Pharma is Love Festival is not the only initiative of the Company. One of the tools of early career guidance and in-depth subject training is the Future Biochemist project. This is a free online course for students in grades 8-11, designed to help them prepare for the Unified State Exam in chemistry. As an additional motivation, the most active and effective participants of the program will receive five additional points upon admission to the Ogarev Moscow State University.

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