Medical Biotechnology in Germany 2010 – Benefit of Biopharmaceuticals for Children

 

The new report “Medical Biotechnology in Germany 2010 – Benefit of Biopharmaceuticals for Children” is now available. It was provided by The Boston Consulting Group for vfa bio. This yearly report is the only one recording all activities within medical biotechnology in Germany – ranging from startup to big companies.

Medical biotechnology in Germany mastered the crisis year 2009 well. The importance of biopharmaceuticals has further increased, aided by 112 small and medium-sized biotech companies, medium-sized and large drug manufacturers, and German subsidiaries of international pharmaceutical and biotech companies which are already marketing products and/or have their own innovative product pipeline, as well as 268 companies with technology platforms (but no own drug development).

• The number of employees in medical biotechnology remained largely stable in 2009 (+1% compared with the previous year).
• Sales of biopharmaceuticals in 2009 increased by 5.4% to about €4.7 billion compared with the previous year. It continues to constitute 16% of the total pharmaceutical market in Germany. In the same period, the total pharmaceutical market grew by almost 4%.
• Biopharmaceuticals are represented strongly in certain fields of therapy. For example, their revenue share is 67% in immunology, 32% in the area of metabolism, 29% in oncology, and 22% in hematology.
• In 2009, 12 of the 44 newly approved drugs were biopharmaceuticals.
• 468 biopharmaceuticals were in clinical development in 2009. Compared with 2008, the pipeline grew by 12%. The development focus was particularly on cancer drugs and vaccines.
• Approximately two-thirds of all biopharmaceuticals are approved also or exclusively for children.

The focus of this year’s study is on the benefit of biopharmaceuticals for children, an area in which medical biotechnology has taken a leading role: Many biopharmaceuticals were developed from the very beginning with an eye on treatment for children (e.g., growth hormones, insulins, and enzyme replacement therapies). These projects were initiated long before the EU Paediatric Regulation has come into force. Since mid 2008 this regulation requires paediatric development for all medicines which could be beneficial for children. This study describes the use of biopharmaceuticals for children in the treatment of diabetes, growth disorders, infectious diseases, rare diseases, autoimmune diseases, and asthma.

You can download or order the complete report in german language: