The biotech industry is doing well

25.06.2015 11:52

The vfa bio presented the 10th biotechnology report at a press conference. Conducted together with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), it looked at the biotech industry 10 years ago, the status quo in 2014 and, last but not least, the future of the industry.

Compared to 2013, sales of biotechnological products increased by 7 percent in 2014 - from 6.5 billion to 7.5 billion euros - as the chairman of vfa bio, Dr. Frank Mathias, announced. The share of biopharmaceuticals in the entire pharmaceutical market has also grown: from 21.4 percent in 2013 to 22 percent in 2014. Mathias did not attribute the growth to price increases, but to the following three factors:

– the increasing medical needs,
– the additional regulations
– and the new launches of biopharmaceuticals.

Particularly strong growth was recorded in immunology, oncology and metabolic diseases. There were a total of 11 new approvals of biopharmaceuticals in 2014, three of which were biosimilars. And the pipeline is still well filled with biopharmaceuticals, reported Mathias; it is currently dominated by monoclonal antibodies. Of 357 corresponding active ingredients, 62 are currently in phase III clinical trials, 148 in phase II and 147 in phase I. The pipeline also contains 25 biosimilars, as vfa bio announced.

With regard to employment figures, the vfa bio was able to identify a positive trend in biotechnology. The number of companies remained roughly constant; the number of employees increased by 3.7 percent or 30,270 employees in 2014. However, Mathias also admitted that hardly any new start-up companies had been added. He cited the lack of venture capital and investors' willingness to take risks as reasons for this.

Nevertheless, Germany is in second place in the global rankings when it comes to the production of EU-approved biopharmaceuticals, said the vfa-bio chairman. We expect the industry to continue to develop positively in the future, said Mathias and then presented seven theses. These should play a crucial role with a view to 2025:

1. Companies will continue to invest heavily in the biopharmaceutical pipeline.
2. The benefits of biopharmaceuticals for patients will increase.
3. The number of patients and the different areas of application will increase.
4. Vaccines will experience a new upswing and leave their niche existence.
5. Personalized medicine remains trendy.
6. There will be a new surge in gene and cell therapy technology.
7. The role of biotech companies will change: partnerships will become more important.

After Mathias' presentation, Jürgen Lücke (BCG) discussed an important future trend: the digitalization of the healthcare system. Digital approaches are already technically possible and will form an integral part of the healthcare system in the future, gap predicted. He therefore appealed to companies to rethink their current business models and their role - away from pure drug manufacturers and towards providers of health solutions and partnerships.