The Council of Experts of the Industry Development Fund has given the go-ahead to extend a RUB300-million (USD4.95 million) loan to Biocad to implement a project to expand production in the St. Petersburg special economic zone, the fund’s press service reported on December 18, 2016.

The project, valued at RUB3.1 billion (USD50 million), provides for building a pharmaceutical plant for making drugs for treating cancer, as well as neurological, blood, and autoimmune disorders.

The construction of the building is to be finished in 2017. Equipment will be purchased, assembled and launched in 2019. The company also plans to allocate RUB11.7 billion (USD190 million) for the development of drugs and for clinical trials by 2021.

Biocad is a biopharmaceutical company manufacturing medicines for treating oncological and hematological diseases, gynecological and neurological pathologies, as well as infectious diseases. The company has offices in the U.S., Brazil, China, India, and other countries.

Among Biocad’s key stockholders are Pharmstandard and its founder and director general Dmitry Morozov. Roman Abramovich’s Millhouse was a major shareholder of Biocad with a 50 percent stake, but it withdrew from the venture in late 2015.