Biocad prepares Moscow site for melanoma drug production

Biocad has begun transferring production of the finished dosage form of a melanoma medicine to a site in the Technopolis Moscow special economic zone, Moscow Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov announced on October 11.

The medicine combines two monoclonal antibodies, nurulimab and prolgolimab. Production is planned at the company's PK-137 complex, which forms part of the pharmaceutical cluster in Moscow's special economic zone.

Before manufacturing can begin, the company must transfer and adapt technological processes, validate them and complete regulatory procedures. The announcement gave no launch date. City officials expect local production to help patients receive the medicine more quickly.

Liksutov said the facility had produced more than 8.5 million packs of medicines for cancer and autoimmune diseases since 2021. That figure covers the plant's overall output, rather than the planned melanoma medicine production.

The complex occupies a 43,000-square-metre site. A liquid dosage form unit opened there in 2022, and the facility began producing divozilimab for multiple sclerosis in 2024.

Moscow's Department of Investment and Industrial Policy oversees development of the special economic zone. More than 250 high-technology businesses have established operations there over its 20-year history. Its ten sites cover a combined 430 hectares.