Gedeon Richter Closes R&D Project of Nearly HUF 5 Bn

Richter Gedeon Plc. has built and equipped a new molecular biology laboratory at its Debrecen site. The investment was part of a multi-year, partly EU-funded, HUF 4.83 billion research and development (R&D) project to support biotechnology drug development, the Budapest-listed pharmaceutical company told the state news agency MTI on Monday.

According to the statement, the research, carried out in a consortium with the University of Szeged (SZTE) and the Szeged Biological Research Centre (SZBK) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, was aimed at developing R&D technologies that contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of action and the development of side effects of the drug manufacturer's biotechnology-based protein medicines.

“The research carried out at the University of Szeged in the framework of the project is related to the cutting-edge trends in the pharmaceutical industry, and the developments apply the tools of modern drug discovery (nanotechnology, proteomics, foldamer chemistry)," the researchers said.

According to Richter's statement, the Institute of Medical Chemistry of the University of Szeged and the Institute of Biophysics and Genetics of the University of Szeged have made progress in the development of a peptide-based targeted carrier for the delivery of a biological agent into the cell.

New advances in the development of nanocarrier systems and their new technologies, the search for new indications for drugs and the delivery of proteins into cells could contribute to the development of future medicines, they said.

The future development of a range of gynecological products based on natural raw materials developed in the framework of the collaboration will be a niche in this product category, they added.

The project, with a total cost of HUF 4.830 billion, was implemented under the Széchenyi 2020 program with non-reimbursable funding of HUF 2.840 billion. Richter participated in the project with HUF 1.837 billion of its own funds, while the two consortium partners, the University of Szeged and the Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences received HUF 731.2 million and HUF 267.9 million respectively.

Budapest-based Richter Gedeon Plc. is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Central and Eastern Europe, with a direct market presence in Western Europe, China, Latin America and Australia.