Medicine is on the verge of a global breakthrough: Patients will no longer need donors or mechanical implants, because all organs will be grown in test tubes. World-renowned Russian scientist Konstantin Agladze tells Ogonyok about his work in this field.

Russia's Healthcare Ministry plans to draft an organ transplantation bill by 2014 and submit it to the Government. A directive on this was added to the official government bank of regulations and directives on Tuesday.

Russian experts in HIV prevention and treatment have voiced doubt over the news of a US baby having been successfully cured of human immunodeficiency virus. An early drug treatment can effectively stop the virus from spreading, they say, although there has been no proof the baby was infected by her HIV-positive mother.

The agenda of the hearings will include: a comprehensive discussion of the problems of market regulation of biologically active additives in the Russian Federation, control and supervision in this area, as well as the issues of registration and certification of BAAs. Today the problem of BAA market regulation is becoming increasingly important, with control and supervision in the field of biologically active additives appearing to be the most pressing issues. Key governmental agencies come out with ambitious initiatives aimed at regulating the market. The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation is proposing to standardize the registration procedure of BAA and medical substances; the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare proposes to differentiate the system of registration and circulation of BAA; another heavily discussed topic is a need to create a single state agency with supervising functions, including control over the BAA distribution on the market.

Veronika Skvortsova, the Minister of Health, Gennady Onishchenko, the Head of the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare, Elena Telnova, the Acting Head of Roszdravnadzor, Timofey Nizhegorodtsev, the Head of the Supervisory Division of Social Sphere and Trade of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation, Ivan Dedov, the President of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and other heads of state authorities, as well as representatives of business community and market experts were invited to participate in the hearings. The pharmaceutical practice of Lidings law firm will be represented by Counsel Sergey Patrakeev. Lidings is dedicated to providing legal support to foreign companies operating in Russia, and the firm’s client list boasts key industry leaders in the sphere of life sciences.