Dialogues

May 25, 2025, 06:33

Mikhail Grubman on Building Eastern Europe’s Leading CRO and Accelerating Global Oncology Trials

In this episode of Oncoinfluencers on OncoDaily, host Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan explores the evolution of clinical research in Eastern Europe with Mikhail Grubman, CEO of Atlan Clinical — one of the region’s leading contract research organizations (CROs). Speaking from Moscow, they dive into how Atlan grew from a local startup to a globally recognized partner for Big Pharma and biotech. Grubman shares strategic insights on:

Expanding from Russia to a global footprint across Armenia, Turkey, and Portugal
Building a high-performing CRO team from displaced medical and scientific talent
Competing with global CROs through speed, flexibility, and risk-sharing models
Navigating geopolitics while maintaining FDA- and EMA-ready clinical trial quality
Partnering with US biotech leader Aegida to accelerate drug development timelines

An essential watch for anyone interested in the business of clinical trials, cross-border collaboration, and the future of oncology research.

00:00 Introduction
00:32 What Atlan Clinical does and how it evolved into a global CRO
01:54 Challenges of starting a CRO in Russia and building trust with international clients
03:09 Recruiting highly educated staff with scientific and medical backgrounds
05:23 Collaborating with major pharma companies like GSK, Merck, AstraZeneca
06:22 Building a flexible, high-quality system to compete with global CROs
09:11 Risk-sharing approach and commitment to timelines and budgets
10:20 Acquisition by U.S. biotech company Agenus in 2020
16:45 Opportunities for fast, high-quality clinical research in Russia today
19:03 Mikhail Grubman’s background: from biochemist to CRO leader