Biopharma (Ukrainian: ТОВ «Біофарма плазма») is the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

company focused on the development and production of

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

s based on human

plasma Plasma or plasm may refer to: Science * Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter * Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral * Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics Biology * Blood pla ...

History

Foundation and early history

In 1895, the Association for the Control of Infectious Diseases was created, and in 1896 the Bacteriological Institute was founded in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. In 1897, a shelter for

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

of the population was opened opposite the building.

20th century

In 1920, with the opening of

epidemiological Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

, microbiological, parasitological and sanitary-hygienic departments, it was renamed to the "Sanitary and Bacteriological Institute." In 1938, the Institute was divided into two parts: scientific and manufacturing. It was renamed to the "Ukrainian Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology." At this time, the staff consisted of 250 employees. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Institute was evacuated to Kuybyshev and continued the research. After the war, manufacturing returned to

. In 1955, the manufacturing expanded to 12 bacterial drugs. The institute begins to export to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

21st century

In 2005, the company implemented the technology of the virus inactivation by the

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more ...

method in the production of immunoglobulins. In 2005, at the International Forum of Quality, the enterprise received the

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

9001 certificate. In 2009, after a series of changes, reorganizations, and renamings (in 1965, 1978, 1992), PrJSC Biopharma was formed. In 2012, Horizon Capital and FMO invested in Biopharma for building a new biopharmaceutical production factory equipped with a quality control laboratory. In 2014, the first phase of the Biopharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Complex was launched in

Bila Tserkva Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...

. It includes a pharmaceutical plant for the production of medicines, center for research, development and technology, laboratory building for quality control of drugs, warehouses for raw materials and finished products, housing for power systems. The official opening of the Biopharmaceutical NSC "Biopharma" took place on June 16, 2015. On this occasion, the company handed over medicines worth ₴1 million, for the needs of the Ministry of Defense and the treatment of

military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or e ...

. In September 2018 company joined The European Business Association (EBA). 2019 (September 19–20) Biopharma jointly with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine held an international forum on blood components and preparations - "Actual issues of industrial production of blood products". Within the framework of the forum, the official opening ceremony of the plasma fractionation plant was held, which became the first such plant in Ukraine and can process up to one million liters of plasma per year.

Construction of a new complex

At the end of 2016, Biopharma started the third stage of the construction – the plant for blood plasma fractionation. In October 2017, after the construction of a new building, the installation of technical equipment was started. At the new facilities, the company will produce

Albumin Albumin is a family of globular proteins, the most common of which are the serum albumins. All the proteins of the albumin family are water-soluble, moderately soluble in concentrated salt solutions, and experience heat denaturation. Albumins ...

, Bioven, and

Immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

that help treat diseases caused by

immunodeficiency Immunodeficiency, also known as immunocompromisation, is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer is compromised or entirely absent. Most cases are acquired ("secondary") due to extrinsic factors that a ...

. The opening of the new complex took place in summer 2018

Vasyl Khmelnytsky Vasyl Khmelnytsky (born 10 September 1966, Bayanaul, Kazakhstan, USSR) is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and founder of holding company UFuture. Biography Khmelnytsky was born in Kazakhstan, in the village of Bayanaul, Pavlodar Region. His father ...

and his partners invested $42 million in the research and production facility. 2019 — opening and launch of the first plasma fractionation plant in Ukraine which became the first such plant in Ukraine that can process up to one million liters of plasma per year. This technology enables to extract lifesaving drugs, requires advanced research and development, GMP-certified equipment and facilities. $75 million was raised to build the plant. In December 2019, Biopharma sold part of the company to the German pharmaceutical manufacturer STADA. This decision was made in view of the fact that STADA will be able to bring investment and new expertise in the production and promotion of medicines. Biopharma's shareholders maintained the production of donor plasma drugs and focused on its development both in Ukraine and abroad. Currently, the company is focused on combating the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and is working in two main areas: * Clinical trials of one of the main classic products - the drug Bioven, which is used in the complex treatment of complex

bacterial Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

and

viral pneumonia Viral pneumonia is a pneumonia caused by a virus. Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in one or both of the lungs. The pulmonary alveoli fill with fluid or pus making it difficult to breathe. Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, vir ...

s. Potentially, it can also be used for pneumonia caused by COVID-19. * The second direction is the development of hyperimmune immunoglobulin from the plasma of those who became ill with coronavirus. Scientists from different countries are inclined to believe that this drug can potentially be effective for the targeted treatment of patients with COVID-19. To do this, Biopharma joined the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, which includes 10 world leaders in the production of plasma preparations.

Social activities

Biopharma is involved in solving the problem of

hemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

and combating the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

epidemic and

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In 2017, as part of a public-private partnership, Biopharma invested over $3.5 million in the reconstruction and modernization of the Sumy Regional Blood Service Center. It is the first blood center in Ukraine certified according to the international standard ISO 9001: 2015. In 2017, Biopharma launched an all-Ukrainian social program ''We do care. We are together'', aimed at improving the quality of life of patients with hemophilia in Ukraine. In the same year, the company provided charitable assistance to medical institutions of Kyiv Oblast in the amount of ₴1 million. The company also intends to build 10 modern donor plasma collection centers throughout Ukraine. In March 2018, Biopharma initiated public discussions and held a series of meetings with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Hemophilia Society, the World Hemophilia Federation, and the Children with Hemophilia Charitable Foundation. As a result, a Memorandum of Cooperation was concluded and signed, which makes it possible to implement a system of public control over the production of the drug for patients with hemophilia "BioClot A". At the end of July 2020, the first Biopharma Plasma center was opened in Cherkasy. The company leased the obsolete regional blood center and turned it into a high-tech progressive European institution. They installed modern equipment and created the most comfortable conditions for both donors and employees.

Activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

At the end of March 2020, Biopharma helped the laboratory of the Center for Public Health of Ukraine of the Ministry of Healthcare to establish a national reference laboratory for the detection of coronavirus. In March 2020, the laboratory has already analyzed hundreds of samples and thus became a flagship in the fight against the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine. In April 2020, Biopharma started collecting plasma from people who had recovered from COVID-19. Free tests for the presence of antibodies to coronavirus are conducted for all donors. Plasma is collected from donors by hardware plasmapheresis. In September 2020 Biopharma has completed clinical trials of immunoglobulin (Bioven) in the complex therapy of patients with pneumonia caused by coronavirus infection COVID-19.

References

External links

Biopharma Official website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831114635/https://www.biopharma.com.ua/en/home-page/ , date=2019-08-31 Pharmaceutical companies of Ukraine Companies based in Kyiv Manufacturing companies based in Kyiv Medical research institutes in the Soviet Union Pharmaceutical companies of the Soviet Union