National biosecurity of the Union State is impossible without ensuring technological independence in biomedical research aimed at creating next-generation drugs and diagnostics that are globally competitive. While the final stages of the drug development cycle—preclinical and clinical trials—can be implemented at a high level in the Union State, the initial stages of development, associated with identifying therapeutic targets and searching for effective molecules for therapy (lead compounds), are in many cases underdeveloped. Moreover, these stages are the most knowledge-intensive and critical for the successful development of new, effective and competitive drugs. The lack of a systematic approach, including the knowledge-intensive stages of searching for lead compounds, is one of the main reasons why the Union State significantly lags behind the global pharmaceutical industry.

The current Soyuz-Biomembranes Scientific Group Program aims to bridge this gap by creating a technological platform for the development of pharmacologically active compounds, cell therapy technologies, and methods for identifying therapeutically significant targets for the treatment of oncological, autoimmune, cardiovascular, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases. Achieving this goal will enable the development of a set of methods and technologies for the production and extraction of highly purified membrane proteins—the targets of most modern drugs, yet still the most challenging subjects for research and development—as well as the evaluation of their properties in silico, the study of their interactions in vitro, and the production of high-affinity ligands. New approaches to the study of individual protein molecules and interacting protein complexes will be developed, and new molecular targets for the diagnosis and treatment of socially significant diseases will be identified. The results will enable drug development, from target discovery and validation to the creation of lead candidates and the planning of preclinical trials.

To successfully implement the Program and translate its results into clinical practice, it is proposed to consolidate the competencies of leading scientific and technical organizations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which possess extensive experience and globally unique achievements in research and development in the field of membrane proteins, as well as experience in the development and clinical implementation of new diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Implementation of this Program will be of great importance for the development of national biomedicine and is a prerequisite for ensuring technological biosafety.

Success in achieving such an ambitious goal is impossible without the combined efforts of the best scientific centers of both countries. The state customer-coordinator for Russia is the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and for the Republic of Belarus, the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. The responsible executor on the Russian side is the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and the co-executors are the V.N. Orekhovich Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University, the M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, and the Federal Scientific and Clinical Center of Physical Chemistry and Mechanics of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia. Co-implementers from the Republic of Belarus: the Union Institute of Informatics and Pedagogical Problems (UIIP), the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Mental Health, and the National Anti-Doping Laboratory.

Our institute will be used to develop machine learning algorithms for analyzing large amounts of biomedical data, mathematically model protein-ligand interactions, and develop specialized software.

The program is designed to last five years: work began in March 2026 and is scheduled to be completed in 2030. Consolidating the unique competencies of leading scientists from the Union State makes the project a key condition for ensuring technological sovereignty and the future of national biomedicine.

Consumers of the products and technologies being developed are expected to include organizations subordinate to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (Department for the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry), the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of the Russian Federation, the anti-doping services of Russia and Belarus, organizations developing new generation drugs, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of molecular diagnostic systems, organizations of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Russian Academy of Sciences, and universities in Belarus and Russia.