What do you think of when Russia is mentioned?

Billionaire football club owners perhaps? Or maybe the immaculately groomed, six-foot-tall Slavic model-type women?

There is no doubt that since the fall of the Berlin wall (actually over 25 years ago, but who’s counting) the Russians have become more and more visible. Especially in London. The average Brit is still more accustomed to associating Russians with bling, billions of euros, and a dazzling varieties of vodka, but people in the West do not customarily associate the country with the medical industry. You may be dimly aware that laser eye surgery was first developed in Russian climes, but one of the most advanced pharmaceutical production plants in the world? Not likely.

However, in Turbuny (the Lipetsk region of Russia, some 400 kilometers south of Moscow), Rafarma Pharmaceuticals has just unveiled its brand new production facility. It ranks alongside the best in Europe, and it’s no small facility. It covers 25,000 square meters – and to put that into context, it’s about the size of six football pitches. A state-of-the-art pharmaceutical production facility that’s been designed and constructed in a mere three years is a scenario more likely in Southeast Asia rather than an obscure area of Russia. However, it seems that the Russian-based Rafarma Pharmaceuticals will soon be considered a new entrant in the rarefied leagues of “big pharma.”

But why Russia?

In 2009, President Medvedev set the bar high. He called for an increase in the production of drugs to satisfy at least 20 percent of the demands of the populous Russian Federation. In other words, he demanded that a full cycle of pharmaceuticals, medications such as analgesics, antibiotics, and diabetes drugs, be produced domestically. It was a tall order. Up to that point, almost all the drugs supplied by the Russian public health system – by far the largest dispensers of medication to the Russian population – came from the West, overwhelmingly from the United States. The President considered that state of affairs to be economic insanity and a key failing in Russia’s domestic security.

The world-class, Moscow based Zdorovie Foundation seized the gauntlet. The foundation had been created in 2001 by influential scientists, academics, and health care opinion makers, including the former Russian Minister of Health Tatyana Dmitrieva, with the overall aim of instigating domestic production of much-needed medicines for the Russian market. Success was immediate, and Rafarma Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(http://www.rafarma.us) was created to commercially exploit the new developments. With the help of funding from VEB, the state supported bank for development and innovation, the company set about constructing the “state of the art” production plant. The company sourced the best technical construction techniques and scoured the world for the most advanced of production machinery. Eventually, it was sourced from Germany, Serbia, the Czech Republic, and beyond. Despite the fast tracking of the project, the plant met exacting standards. It has been ratified to the highest international standards and has recently been certified by GMP, ISO, and BSI. The company is on track to commence full production during the second quarter of 2013.

However, that is only half the story. No self-respecting “big pharma” can get anywhere without a successful research and development team. Industry researchers have been trying for decades to develop a broad spectrum of anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal drugs to counter the effects of secondary infection following wounds or operations. It has become something of a holy grail for modern medical research and development. Now, Rafarma’s research team has made a significant breakthrough, using fluorine (or more specifically benzalkonium flouride) and developed a new range of pharmaceutical products dubbed the F-Zed range. Currently going through clinical trials, they are on track for release to the market in the near future. It is one of the first of a series of new and innovative medications that the company’s world-class research and development team plans to release during the coming years.

Up to this point, the company’s focus has been on the Russian domestic market, with projections that suggest Rafarma will meet President Medvedev’s benchmark target by the end of 2015. Not surprisingly, Rafarma is turning to the international market, however not to the over-supplied and saturated pharmaceutical markets in Western Europe and America, but to those with far more potential and, let’s be honest, far greater need. Rafarma is already making plans for marketing operations in South America and the Indian subcontinent. These plans are expected to be rolled out in 2014 and beyond.

Savvy investors have now joined in Rafarma’s success. Since January 3, 2013, the company’s shares have been quoted on the U.S. OTC market (OTC: RAFA) and will soon be available on the European exchange GXG.