Pharmaceuticals - New Boehringer CEO sees movement in politics
According to the new Head of Germany at Boehringer Ingelheim, Fridtjof Traulsen, digitalization can help to shorten the development of new medicines and make it more efficient. "Digitalization is a very important success factor," Traulsen told the German Press Agency in Mainz. The hope is that this will significantly shorten the research cycle, which currently takes four to six years. For example, more digital experiments would be possible in less time.
With the help of digitalization, patients who are likely to respond well to treatment can be sought out for studies in a more targeted manner, said Traulsen. This could speed up development phases, increase the probability of success and help patients to receive new, highly effective therapies more quickly. "So far, this has only been successful in exceptional cases. However, oncology shows that it can be done faster, for example by selecting people with a tumor of a certain genetic structure and treating them in a targeted manner," explained Traulsen.
According to Traulsen, phase 2 in particular, in which a new drug is usually used for the first time in sick people, is crucial. "We lose most substances - around 70 percent - in phase 2 if it turns out that the research approach does not work in the human body," he reported.
Successful smaller studies can sometimes lead to approval under certain conditions. This could be important for start-ups, for example, which could then earn money at an earlier stage. He still considers the financing and write-off options for start-ups in the USA to be much better in the event of losses. "In Germany, for example, institutional investors are not allowed to get involved in such financing for risk reasons," said Traulsen.
The development of drugs or vaccines in the late stages is very expensive. "Partnerships are needed. There is hardly a start-up that makes it to the market without support." Boehringer also relies on such partnerships. "50 percent of our pipeline comes from external collaborations that then benefit patients," said Traulsen.
He was previously head of the second major German Boehringer site in Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, and will succeed Sabine Nikolaus as CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Deutschland GmbH on January 1, 2024. Traulsen shares her view that the framework conditions for pharmaceutical companies in Germany must improve. "The pharmaceutical industry in Germany has lost ground in recent years," he emphasized. There are significantly fewer clinical trials here than there used to be. "These are dramatic signals."
Worldwide, Germany only ranks seventh among the most important countries for clinical trials; for Boehringer, Germany is the second most important trial location. "We are rooted here, this has grown historically and is not necessarily due to the good conditions." Faster approval processes, less bureaucracy and easier access to data are needed. This has now been accepted by politicians. "The political will is now there, we now have momentum with the pharmaceutical strategy," said Traulsen with regard to the planned Medical Research Act and a law on the broader use of health data, among other things.
According to Traulsen, Boehringer expects 25 product launches in Human Pharma in the coming years, primarily in the areas of central nervous system, lung diseases and immunological diseases. "The success of the pipeline depends very much on our agility and performance in Germany," he said. Boehringer also wants to test the drug Survodutide in clinical trials as a treatment for obesity and liver diseases. Such substances could be an important therapeutic option for people with obesity, said Traulsen. However, he is skeptical about the current boom in weight loss injections. "This should not be a lifestyle issue."
Announcement on the change of management at Boehringer Ingelheim Deutschland GmbH (from 23.10.23)
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Source: www.stern.de
