OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2013. The EBRD has agreed to sell its entire stake in leading Russian vaccine-producer NPO Petrovax Pharm as part of a deal negotiated together with the company’s founders. This envisages control of the firm being ceded to Russia’s Interros, one of the country’s largest private investment groups.

The EBRD made a EUR 15 million equity investment in Petrovax in 2008.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS). Financial details are not being disclosed.

The EBRD is proud that during its nine-year partnership it helped Petrovax build a world-class production facility near Moscow and establish long-term business links with some of the leading global pharmaceutical companies, which recognised  the major scientific contribution made by this Russian firm.  

In 2004, the Bank lent Petrovax USD 25 million to finance the construction of a state-of-the-art plant in Pokrov, Moscow region.

Petrovax thus became the first Russian vaccine-manufacturer to meet the international Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standard.

The success of Petrovax is based on a breakthrough by a group of Russian scientists who managed to synthetize a new class of polymers which lead to the development of the immunomodulator Polyoxidonium.

Two of the scientists involved in this, Professor Arkady Nekrasov and Dr. Natalya Puchkova, will remain as shareholders and managers of the company.