Sverdlovsk regional pharma holding Yunona and Moscow’s Skolkovo Foundation are putting up $32m for Ural-based production of pills and drug capsules in the city of Novouralsk, RIA Novosti reports, citing Yunona chairman Alexander Petrov.

The future project will be set up in a new shop to be built and equipped at Yunona’s local pharma asset, Medsintez, “within the next few months.”

According to Mr. Petrov, Yunona will allocate just under $19m, with Skolkovo kicking in the rest.

The Yunona chairman emphasized that the prospective line of pills and capsules will include two drugs that are completely new to Russia’s pharma. These are the antibacterial Levophlactocin and the multi-purpose Profetal.

One of the Profetal developers, Sergei Rodionov, MD, said “there are no analogs of the drug in the world.” Its active agent, alpha-fetoprotein, is said to be able to inhibit some autoresponses and block estrogen build-up in the human body; the drug is also believed to lyse fibrous tissue. Profetal can reportedly treat atherosclerosis and help prevent strokes, heart attacks, and women’s breast cancer.

According to Mr. Rodionov, Profetal has successfully completed preclinical and clinical trials and is slated for commercial production in 2012.

A drug similar to the antibacterial Levophlactocin is already known in the Russian market, but under a different name as it is made from Chinese raw substance. The Yunona chairman claims the Urals scientists have developed an innovative way of getting the substance. At the moment, clinical trials are reportedly nearing completion and the drug will be hopefully licensed next year.