“Soviet means excellent” is a slogan born in the USSR in the 1930s, during the period of industrialization. Along with other industries, pharmaceutical production also developed in the country. But it would not be possible without the creation of new drugs.

Born in the USSR: five domestic drugs with Soviet "roots"

Katerina Kaigorodova

“Soviet means excellent” is a slogan born in the USSR in the 1930s, during the period of industrialization. Along with other industries, pharmaceutical production also developed in the country.

But it would not be possible without the creation of new drugs. Which domestic drug developments have been the most successful and which of them are used today?

We have collected for you the five most popular Soviet and Russian names.

Gramicidin C, the first domestic antibiotic

In 1942, in the USSR, at the Institute of Malaria and Medical Parasitology, the first domestic antibiotic was obtained – a protein with a simple structure, containing five amino acids.

Employees of the institute, the spouses Georgy Gause and Maria Brazhnikova, isolated the bacterium Bacillus brevis var, collecting soil samples with soil fungi throughout the Moscow region. Maria Brazhnikova recalled how, in the course of research on the surface of nutrient jelly in Petri dishes, where staphylococcus was placed, “a desert zone could be clearly distinguished around some colonies of soil microbes. These soil microbes protected themselves by releasing some substance into the environment that suppressed all life.

The letter "C" was added to the name of gramicidin to emphasize that it was a Soviet medicine. To determine the structure of the substance, the drug was sent to the laboratory of the Lister Medical Institute in London. Among the researchers of gramicidin C was the young chemist Margaret Thatcher, the future Prime Minister of Great Britain.

While the research was going on, it was decided to immediately put the drug into circulation – the Great Patriotic War was in full swing. To gramicidin C, the resistance of pathogenic microorganisms practically did not develop, and it helped a lot in the treatment of purulent wounds at the front. Gramicidin C was used only externally, applying a special paste containing an antibiotic to the wounds – for all its advantages, it turned out to be quite toxic. But it suppressed the growth of several groups of pathogenic bacteria at once – streptococci, staphylococci, pneumococci and pathogens of anaerobic infections.

After the end of the war, Maria Brazhnikova, Georgy Gause and the director of the Institute of Malaria and Medical Parasitology Pyotr Sergiev were awarded the Stalin Prize of the third degree. And gramicidin C is still used as a local antibacterial agent.

Kagocel, interferon inducer

Interferons for the treatment of respiratory diseases, influenza and some other infections began to be used in the USSR in the 1960s. Thus, during the Hong Kong Influenza epidemic in the Soviet Union in 1969, a successful test of human leukocyte interferon was carried out. The studies took part 14 thousand people of different ages. A few years later, in 1973, when during the flu epidemic in Moscow alone, Moscow was registered a day to 90 thousand cases of diseases, the use of interferon in schools made it possible to significantly reduce the incidence and reduce the symptoms of viral infection.

Interest in interferons entailed the creation of special preparations – inductors of interferon. In the human body, they "include" a system for developing their own, "internal" interferons. Thus, they give the same effect as "external", but devoid of their side properties. This made it possible to expand the possibilities of interferonotherapy.

As a result of many years of work, domestic researchers managed to create a group of original interferon inductors. In the 1990s, a group of employees of the leading research center of Russia in the field of immunology and microbiology – NIIM them. N. F. Gamaley, under the leadership of Academician Felix Ershov and Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Vladimir Nesterenko conducted research in the field of molecular genetic diagnostics. Then she developed a new antiviral drug, inductor interferon, subsequently registered as Kagocel.

Scientific research during this period was practically not funded, and the team, which created the drug, decided to engage in its tests and release on their own. Registered and began to produce Kagelin in Russia in 2003, and by 2014 he ranked a quarter of the Russian antiviral drug market in the Russian Federation.

Broad spectrum preparations aimed at prevention and treatment of viral infections, including influenza, ARVI, herpes and COVID-19, not so much in the world. Kagelin stimulates the human body to develop their own protection – Alpha Proteins, Beta, Gamma, thanks to which the immune system rises. In the situation of the viral attack, when the production of its own interferon is depressed, the use of kagocel restores the "balance of interferon" to a normal physiological level. And this is not happening during the first hours, as under the action of other drugs, and for 4 to 5 days, says Nesterenko.

Now Kagelis is included in the federal clinical recommendations of the Russian Ministry of Health in the influenza in children and adults, as well as methodological recommendations for the treatment and prevention of influenza and ARVI.

Mexidol: Save the stroke

Mexidol is another Russian drug with Soviet roots. His story began in 1956, when Physico-chemists Nikolai Semenov (USSR) and Sir Siril Norman Hinselwood (United Kingdom) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "For research in the field of chemical reaction mechanism".It was thanks to their work that the mechanism of formation of free radicals was understood, and this, in turn, served as the basis for the creation of the concept of combating oxidative stress and the development of drugs with antioxidant and anti-chemical activity.

A group of Soviet pharmacologists under the leadership of Academician Ramne Arthur Valdman synthesized Mexidol in the early 1980s. In 1996, the drug was allowed to apply the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. And in 2003, the development and introduction of Mexidol in clinical practice a group of scientists was awarded a bonus in the field of science and technology of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Mexidol is used in the treatment of strokes, problems with brain vessels and a number of other states in neurology, narcology, psychiatry, ophthalmology and pediatrics. When damage to the cells of various tissues occurs, it is mexidol that helps to ensure their viability. In complex therapy with other drugs, it enhances their action and reduces side effects.

Now Mexidol is among the 38 most important standards for the provision of medical care in Russia.

Phenibut: Cosmonaut First Aid Kit

The medicine that in the world is known as "The Russian Wonder Drug", was synthesized in the 1960s in the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. Herzen Professor V.V. Perevalin.

This neuropsychotropic drug was introduced into clinical practice in the USSR and in 1975 was included in the aid kit of astronauts who participated in the Experimental Flight "Union" – "Apollo". And all due to the fact that the phenibut helped reduce the high level of stress of astronauts without affecting their performance. Ordinary tranquilizers did not cope – after all, in addition to the soothing effect, they also had a relaxing effect.

In the 1980s, its properties were studied in the laboratory of psychopharmacology of the Leningrad Research Institute. V. M. Bekhtereva. And in 1982, a group of scientists who worked on the introduction of the drug into preventive and therapeutic practice received a state of the Latvian SSR.

Phenibut helps with different states of asthenic syndrome – from breakdowns of sleep and increased fatigue to headaches and dizziness. It also increases mental performance and improves psychological indicators – attention, memory, speed and accuracy of sensory motor reactions. It is used to remove the voltage, anxiety and fear, to improve sleep in psychosomatic or neurotic patients, as well as with up or postoperative treatment. It helps the drug and in post-traumatic stress, stuttering, as well as vestibular disorders.

Dibazole: Singing Canary and Stalin's Hand

Dibazol is one of the most famous domestic medicinal developments. Like many drugs, this appeared after the Great Patriotic War.

Intensive studies of CNS stimulants in order to find remedies for fatigue were carried out at the Department of Pharmacology of the VMMA back in the war years. In the spring of 1946, a search began in Leningrad for new synthetic drugs, analogues of purine and pyrimidine. Together, pharmacologists and chemists from the Naval Medical Academy and the Leningrad Technological Institute set to work. As a result, dibazol was discovered, which influenced the increase in the excitability of the spinal cord.

The drug was tested on cats and canaries – in the latter it was the only one that caused chirping in the winter. The results obtained resulted in a hypothesis about the possibility of treating paralysis with the help of a new drug.

At the end of 1947, doctors and chemists came up with a name for their offspring, and soon Dibazol was allowed to be used, and its production was established. It was (and is) used to treat a wide variety of neurological diseases: for example, it has helped a lot of patients suffering from neuritis of the facial nerve.

But then scientists did not receive the country's main prize for their drug – despite the fact that the Committee on the Stalin Prizes unanimously voted for its award. They say that the point was that during the discussion of the issue at the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers G.M. Malenkov said: "Dibazol is a good medicine, of course, but it did not help Comrade Stalin." The words were due to the fact that, probably, the doctors tried to treat the leader with Dibazol. Stalin's left arm did not bend well and was shorter and weaker than his right arm after the injury. The problem was that it happened at the age of 6, and it was pointless to wait for the effect of dibazol 66 years after that.

Later, other groups of scientists found dibazol several more applications: it turned out to be an immunostimulant, an adaptogen, an antispasmodic and a vasodilator. This is a very inexpensive to manufacture, simple and technologically advanced domestic drug, popular and in demand so far.