Two HSE University projects received financial support for commercialization development

At the end of August 2024, the results of the first commercialization projects' evaluations were summarised as part of the implementation of the corresponding support measure. Starting from September 2024, two projects from the HSE Faculty of Computer Science - "CardioLife" and "Melange" - gained the opportunity to develop their products and services for the purposes of commercialization in the open market with financial support.

The tool created at the end of 2023 to support teams implementing commercialization projects for existing or newly-created market products/services will ensure a significant increase in licensing income. Furthermore, it aims to achieve the target indicators set in the HSE University's Integrated Development Program, allowing projects "CardioLife" and "Melange" from the Faculty of Computer Science to make their first commercial sales in the years 2025-2026.

© HSE

According to the project application, "Melange" is implemented by the HSE Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Sciences. The main purpose of the product is to optimize pricing and forecast demand for goods with a delayed consumption time structure (in the fields of the hotel business, retail, and logistics).

As per the developers' description, "Melange," using historical customer data, automatically creates demand forecast models and assesses the sensitivity to pricing, which allows for an increase in margin and optimization of inventory.

The system uses machine learning algorithms to analyze data about customers, sales, and other factors in order to predict future demand and sensitivity to pricing, particularly in the HoReCa segment. As a scientific basis, it uses computer programs,

"The Columnar Sampling Data Based on Feature Informativeness Criteria for Time Series Forecasting Tasks" and "Server Processing Module for Testing and Comparing Machine Learning Models," created within the HSE University's Centre for Infrastructure and Information Technologies.

With the financial support of 4 million rubles in 2024-2025, it is planned to rework the solution prototype and organize the first commercial sales under a model in which HSE University receives income in the form of regular payments (royalties) from the partner (vendor) and as direct licensing payments for software modules from individual large clients. Post-project product sales are also expected – in the form of a set of personal adjustments following the deployment and installation of the "Melange" software.

Vladimir Morozov

"This project started with the hypothesis that, by accessing different information sources and regularly analyzing them, it's possible to create algorithms that surpass human assessments of business indicators such as future cash flow, booking, and cancellations in hotels. The use of such algorithms would enable more balanced and objective decisions, significantly saving organizations' funds on advertising campaigns, staff maintenance, and payments for third-party contractors," explained Vladimir Morozov, the project leader from the Applied Technology Solutions Department of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Sciences of the Faculty of Computer Science.

In his opinion, large companies that have long digitized their data and regularly update it will benefit the most from implementing this project. "Only the presence of a large amount of up-to-date data will enable the algorithms to improve business processes," he believes. The implementation of these algorithms will be inefficient for small enterprises due to the insufficient volume of data. Process optimization brings the greatest effect at large scales, where the savings become immediately noticeable.Explore the sidebar on the left. You can add media to add color to your post. You can also change the cover image, optimize the SEO Settings, add categories or tags, and much more. Spend some time discovering each tab and learn how you can enhance your future posts.

The first stage of the project has already reduced the costs of companies participating in the testing, and the team plans to expand its application, so it was important to receive support for commercialization from HSE University.

"Funding allows us to attract highly qualified specialists interested in the long-term development of the project, reducing the risk of sudden loss of motivation among key participants," says Vladimir Morozov. "Securing funding was one of the critical conditions for the commercialization of the project, and I am very pleased that the university has decided to support our initiative."

The "CardioLife" project is the market name for a bioinformatics service providing genetic testing for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases with a wide range of pathologies in the field of personalized medicine. Its end user is a patient who needs to obtain detailed information about the potential risks of developing cardiovascular diseases for prevention, diagnosis refinement, and personalized treatment planning.

The development is carried out by the International Laboratory of Bioinformatics at NRU HSE. The project is based on two solutions: the "NGS Data Processing and Annotation Pipeline" software, which is used for analyzing the results of whole-genome DNA sequencing in patient blood samples by genetic laboratories, and databases of genomic mutations in people with cardiovascular diseases. The end result is a report on the genetic testing conducted and its interpretation by a cardiologist-geneticist.

With financial support of 5 million rubles planned for the years 2025–2027, the development and improvement of a virtual cardio panel is expected to create a diagnostic tool for both retrospective analysis of the disease pathology and the construction of predictive models. As part of the project development, plans include entering the B2B market with genetic testing services based on the developed technology through partnership development with laboratories and medical centers, and later on the B2C market, offering a full cycle of services.