Debut domestic blood oxygenator to be produced in Moscow

A company in the Technopolis Moscow Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has developed Russia’s debut membrane oxygenator, a blood gas exchange device; the production is scheduled to launch production in September 2023.

“In order to boost import substitution and support metropolitan enterprises, a pharmaceutical cluster has been created in the Technopolis Moscow SEZ. Its participant, Oxykor, intends to set a new local production line to manufacture membrane oxygenators on the Pechatniki site. The first stage launch is scheduled for September 2023; the second stage is expected in January 2024. At the first stage, they intend to produce 10,000 devices, then the output will grow up to 50,000 per year. Thus, the company will provide Russian healthcare institutions with 100 per cent domestic equipment,” said Vladimir Yefimov, Deputy Moscow Mayor for Economic Policy and Property and Land Relations.

Oxygenators are used to saturate blood with oxygen and remove carbon dioxide during cardiac surgery, with severe pneumonia, acute heart and respiratory failures. The device proved its high efficiency and was in demand during the coronavirus pandemic. There are overseas devices available in the Russian market to date.

“The company has entered into a lease for over 426 m² production site in December 2022. About 80 million rubles have been invested and 22 jobs have been created under the project,” said Vladislav Ovchinsky, Head of the Moscow Department of Investment and Industrial Policy.

Enterprises at the medical cluster are flagships of the Technopolis Moscow SEZ in terms of sold products as in Q1 2023 alone they gained RUB 8.4 billion of revenues, which is six times more than in 2022 and 23 times more than a year before that. The boom is facilitated by emerging production facilities, an increase in existing capacities, plus high demand for domestic medical and pharmaceutical products, says Gennady Degtev, CEO Technopolis Moscow.

The first-ever Russian oxygenator, to be launched in the market, is in fact unrivalled because not only it was completely developed by domestic engineers, but also due to a know-how used by the manufacturer to glue the device’s membrane carrying oxygen into blood. The device has passed clinical trials and is being registered in the Russian State Register of Medical Devices and Organizations (Sole Proprietors) Manufacturing Medical Devices.

The project was initiated back in 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, said Natalia Onuprienko, the company’s CEO; before the pandemics, blood gas exchange procedures had been rare and mainly used on newborns to relieve severe respiratory failures. During the pandemic, however, the use of the device expanded significantly, the Russian Ministry of Health getting more interested in it, too. Once launched, it will be primarily bought by hospitals.

The Technopolis Moscow SEZ is an area enjoying a special legal status that offers preferential business conditions to investors. The six sites (Pechatniki, Alabushevo, Micron, MIET, Angstrem, and Rudnevo) accommodate high-tech SEZ companies and cover more than 260 hectares. Technopolis Moscow has been topping international and national industry ratings for several years.