Medical Biotechnology in Germany 2009 – Economic Data for Biopharmaceuticals and Therapeutic Progress through Antibodies

 

The Boston Consulting Group has provided the new report “Medical Biotechnology in Germany 2009 – Economic Data for Biopharmaceuticals and Therapeutic Progress through Antibodies“ for vfa bio. This yearly report is the only one recording all activities within medical biotechnology in Germany – ranging from startup to big companies.

The study shows that the importance of biopharmaceuticals continued to increase in Germany in 2008, and medical biotechnology up to now has proven immune to the economic crisis. A total of 108 small and medium-sized biotech companies, medium-sized and large drug manufacturers, and German affiliates of important international pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, which market products and/or have their own innovative product pipelines, have all contributed to this positive picture.

• Sales of biopharmaceuticals in 2008 grew by 9% in comparison to the previous year to about 4.4 billion Euros and now make up 16% of the total German pharmaceutical market. In the same year, the total pharmaceutical market grew by only 4.5%.
• Sales of monoclonal antibodies have grown by a factor of almost 5 since 2004 to 1.2 billion Euros in 2008. This means that they currently represent 28% of biopharmaceutical sales. End of 2008 there were 19 monoclonal antibodies approved for the German market.
• 419 biopharmaceuticals are currently in clinical development; monoclonal antibodies being the main focus with 162 projects. The pipeline has grown by 18% in comparison to 2007, particularly in early phases I and II.
• Germany continues to be the unchallenged leader in Europe in the production of genetically engineered biopharmaceuticals (675,000-liter fermenter capacity) and is in second place worldwide behind the United States.
• The number of people employed in medical biotechnology remained virtually unchanged in 2008 despite the difficult economic climate (+1% in comparison to the previous year).

However, these positive economic figures do not allow to look ahead light-heartedly. Research-intensive companies – as biopharmaceutical firms are par excellence – have to continuously recheck their location decisions. Here, the political and economic systems and frameworks play a central role. Especially companies in the field of medical biotechnology are – due to long development cycles of their products, high costs and failure rates – active in a risky business segment which needs a lot of capital. To ensure future jobs and sales of this industrial sector as well as particularly replenishment of innovations for the benefit of patients, framework regulations need to be adapted further. In addition to the introduction of research funding by tax credits, the environment for investors has to be improved to avoid problems for small biotech companies within the scope of their essential subsequent financing.

The study also highlights monoclonal antibodies which represent an extremely important subset of biopharmaceuticals. Many diseases which had previously not or barely been treatable can now be treated with these products. This represents a therapeutic breakthrough. The high specificity of monoclonal antibodies makes it possible to target pathological processes with precision. A single monoclonal antibody may also help patients suffering from a variety of diseases if these can be traced back to a similar molecular cause.

The present study describes the use of monoclonal antibodies in cancer therapy (non-Hodgkin lymphoma, colorectal cancer, melanoma), in orphan diseases (hypereosinophilic syndrome), and in other diseases (asthma, age-related macular degeneration, infection with respiratory syncytial virus). It also demonstrates the modifications by which antibodies may be therapeutically optimized in the laboratory to produce future drugs. These examples underline the high innovation degree of medical biotechnology. Monoclonal antibodies are the result of long lasting and intensive research activities and they function as motor for medical innovations in a variety of ways. It is now crucial to make maximum use of this innovative potential both with regard to Germany as industry location and with regard to the benefit of patients.


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