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News 26 November 2020

RVC Biofund Sells Its Stake in Genetico

The RVC Biofund closed the deal to sell its 17.79% stake in the Genetico portfolio company Center for Genetics and Reproductive Medicine (hereinafter — Genetico). The deal is profitable for the fund; its parameters were not disclosed. Since 2014, the total investment of the RVC Biofund in the project has exceeded RUB 180 million.

The founder and CEO of Genetico Artur Isaev, who became the acquirer of the stake, said that in the future, the package of the RVC Biofund would be divided. Its ultimate owners would be the HSCI group (IceGen-2 LLC) — 10% and Artur Isaev — 7.79 %.

The Genetico Center is a Skolkovo resident and one of the genetic research and medical genetic diagnostics leaders. The company works in bioinformatics, research of genomes and exomes to diagnose and treat serious diseases, the study of tumor genetics for targeted therapy of cancer, sequencing for scientific research, preimplantation genetic testing of embryos (PGT), and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Starting from the second quarter of 2020, the company is implementing a project to identify protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and to introduce a test system designed to detect such immunity.

The RVC Biofund acted as a co-investor in the first round of start-up financing in 2014 and took part in the second round, which took place in 2016-17. Over five years, the portfolio project has shown reasonable development rates: Genetico carried out a technology transfer, built a vast sales network, organized its modern laboratories to conduct tests, and established partnerships with leading world developers. According to its estimates, Genetico occupies about 30% of the Russian market for high-tech genetic testing services. The company develops its test systems and researches in the field of medical genetics. From 2015 to 2019, Genetico's revenue increased from 65 to 400 million roubles.

Director of RVC subsidiary funds Mikhail Fedotov noted that when investing in Genetico, the RVC Biofund was focused not only on investment attractiveness but also on the project's socio-economic effects in a breakthrough direction, which includes genomic technologies.

“One of our tasks as a specialized fund was to support a biomedical project in the early stages of its development. Today, Genetico is a stable company with a flexible product strategy and a good ability to adapt to current conditions. Hence, the fund's withdrawal from the project is well-timed”, emphasized Mikhail Fedotov.

Genetico's core businesses and the size of the markets it operates continue to have good growth potential.

“The RVC Biofund is one of the best investment teams in biomedicine in Russia. For HSCI, as a strategic investor, the experience of interaction with the RVC Biofund was precious. The Biofund supported Genetico at an early stage with investment and strategy development, corporate governance expertise, resource mobilization, and communication with other development institutions. New scientific research methods used in practical health care in diagnosing and selecting treatment methods are becoming an effective way to prevent and prevent diseases. Some of the directions that Genetico is developing are one step away from clinical guidelines and widespread in clinical practice. The most advanced healthcare industries (e.g., reproductive medicine, IVF, oncology) and medical professionals who deal with rare diseases have already started using genome sequencing and genomic data. Such studies are of increasing importance in diagnoses related to autism, epilepsy, orphan diseases, and screening to prevent the onset and development of diseases, and in oncology. We are trying to focus on areas in diagnostics and screening that can increase economic efficiency and reduce costs for the budget, and for health care — faster and more accurate diagnosis and increase the effectiveness of treatment”, commented the General Director of the Genetico Center, Chairman of the Board of Directors HSCI, Artur Isaev.


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