South Korean biopharmaceutical company, Green Cross and Nanolek, a Russian pharmaceutical company, have entered into a strategic partnership agreement for the commercialisation of Green Cross' biologics in the Russian market.

Under the terms of the agreement, Nanolek will obtain marketing authorisations and set up the production of a number of Green Cross' biologics. The production will be organised at Nanolek's facility, a state-of-art biopharmaceutical complex built and equipped in compliance with EU GMP standards and launched in December 2014.

"This partnership is a perfect strategic fit for Green Cross' global business model," said EC Huh,  president of Green Cross Corporation. "We are excited to work with the team at Nanolek, and to share in the longer-term commercial success of Green Cross' products as it enters Russia."

"Our project with Green Cross will make socially significant drugs more accessible and minimize the state's financial burden for the procurement of these drugs outside of Russia," said Mikhail Nekrasov, CEO of Nanolek. "Making possible the domestic production of a number of biopharmaceuticals is our contribution to the implementation of the government policy in developing the Russian pharmaceutical industry."

Russia's pharmaceutical market is one of the most attractive in the emerging European region, mainly due to its absolute size, plus a growing economy and increasing government investment in healthcare, according to a report from Business Monitor International. The Russian market is set to grow at twice the pace of the global pharmaceutical market, with growth estimates around 10-15% annually reaching an approximate market value of $43-60 billion by 2020.

Green Cross provides total healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of human health. Headquartered in Yongin, South Korea, Green Cross specialises in the development and manufacturing of plasma-derivatives, vaccines and recombinant proteins.

Nanolek is a Russian fast-growing pharmaceutical company which aims to become one of the market leaders in the production of innovative biotechnological products and modern vaccines, stimulating the creation of the national bio-economy and amplifying the country's biosafety.