Konstantin Zakharov, Director of the Small Innovative Enterprise at St Petersburg University on the work of biomedical research business

Mr Zakharov, could you please tell us about the history of the company? Who came up with an idea to create the Centre for Comprehensive Biomedical Research and how?

At first, there was an idea to create an organisation to perform contract research work, so that we could attract external co-contractors and internal divisions at St Petersburg University. An organisation within the walls of Alma Mater would certainly simplify the interaction between external customers and University subdivisions. This is how the Centre for Compehensive Biomedical Research was conceived by like-minded people including Mikhail Krasavin, Raul Gainetdinov, Kirill Onokhin and myself.

What are the major directions of the centre activity today?

The directions of the centre activity have remained unchanged from the initial plan. They include coordination, administrative and research support, clinical trials of medical drugs and contract research work. In Russia and all over the world, such activity is performed by special service organisations: contract research organisations and research centre management organisations. When creating the Centre for Comprehensive Biomedical Research, we wanted to reflect both approaches in its activity, which is innovative in a way. For example, if a company wants to conduct research of a new medication or carry out research, we help to do it in accordance with modern standards and current regulations trying to attract the University resources to the greatest extent.

Who are your customers? Can you tell us about these companies and the projects implemented for them?

Our company has been in the market only for a year, but during this time we have concluded a number of contracts to carry out various research. Unfortunately, since we are still working on these projects, I can’t share the information about our customers for the reasons of confidentiality. I can only say that these are quite large pharmaceutical companies that deal with development and research of medical drugs.

Could you tell us about the team of the Small Innovative Enterprise? Who works at the centre?

Our structure is quite clear. We have two major positions in the company: a project director and a project coordinator. They organise clinical trial processes or other research activity on the basis of the centre. Currently, the organisation is at the development stage and the founders of the Small Innovative Enterprise contribute most through supporting and developing the organisation.

Do you attract students? If you do, how does it work?

We don’t attract students just yet, but we plan to do so. When our company has a sufficient number of projects under implementation and reaches the level when it can offer students to master a broad range of practical skills in the sphere of organising research, we will create and implement a programme on attracting students to the activity of the Small Innovative Enterprise.

What are the main challenges in the work of the Small Innovative Enterprise, in your opinion? How are you coping with them?

Initially, we thought that it would be very difficult to manage the Small Innovative Enterprises due to its specific nature, namely, its participation in the organisational structure of the University. However, our fears have not been confirmed, since the University does its best to make the work convenient. For example, the University helps to rent office space and much more. Essentially, the Small Innovative Enterprise faces the same challenges as any other commercial organisation. This includes competition in the service and labour market.

Has the pandemic impacted your activity? In which way?

Yes, it has. Like others, we have been affected by the pandemic, which eventually played the role of a catalyst for us, since the number of research projects has increased. More projects have shifted towards researching the means to fight the coronavirus disease.

What can you advise to you colleagues who would like to open their own small innovative enterprise at St Petersburg University? What should they focus on?

I would advise them to focus on the commercial component. Very often, when we launch new projects including the ones in the format of small innovative enterprises, we are confident that our ideas, innovations or inventions are very valuable and will generate value both for the creators and for the society in any case. In reality, we have to ask ourselves the following question: why and to what extent will your ideas be successful in the market? We have to be more self-rigorous and demanding of our ideas to make the project commercially and economically successful. Otherwise, many small innovative enterprises and any other commercial organisations may remain on paper since they represent value only to you or to the University, being of no use in the market.

The material is prepared with the participation of the students of St Petersburg University.