The Russian company Semiotic entered India’s market of microchips

RVC Biofund’s portfolio company – Semiotic – entered into a contract with the India’s Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd. (top-20 company on the Indian pharmaceutical market) to supply its researched carbohydrate (glycochip) for qualitative determination of glycan-connecting proteins.

The glycochip by Semiotic is a thin plate made of plastic which contains a library of polysaccharides (glycan) which has been developed in the past 30 years. The microchip enables to house up to 600 glycans and using such glycans it is possible to diagnose up to one hundred diseases. The microchip is, for instance, useful for diagnosing infectious,– autoimmune, – and oncological diseases.

As a result of one research by experts of India’s Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd. Using Semiotic’s glycochip containing 400 glycans it was determined that two out of seven antibodies are specifically tied with carbohydrate ligands. This data makes it possible to conduct targeted bioengineering efforts to create new antibodies aimed both for cancer diagnosing and treatment.

The concept of this unique microchip was conceived and developed by the M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences by the carbohydrate laboratory team together with the experts from New York University which contributed in conducting clinical research, certification, and licensing of the microchip for the markets of the Russian Federation, CIS countries, and the USA.

Semiotic’s microchips are currently used by a number of research and development centers and medical centers in the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria, and the USA.

“Using the example of collaboration with Yashraj Biotechnology Ltd. we see the need for the glycochip platform developed by Semiotic for solving complex issues and research objectives for finding diagnostic biomarkers not only in Russia but elsewhere in the world,” – said Egor Beketov, General Director of RVC Biofund RVC.