EBDC 2017: Pharma and biotech experts meet in Heidelberg - Half of innovation anchored in external collaborations
Experts from the pharma and biotech sector met 10 to 11 October in Heidelberg, Germany, for the European Business Development Conference (EBDC). This year’s edition of the partnering conference, which is organized by the German biotechnology industry association BIO Deutschland, gathered about 150 attendees in the medical science hub of the Rhine-Neckar area. The main topics covered by the program were “advances in oncology”, “the rise of autoimmune disorders” as well as “business development and financing for pharma and biotech”. Paola Casarosa, Corporate Vice President for Business Development & Licensing at Boehringer Ingelheim, stressed in her opening keynote the importance of partnering for her corporation. About 50 percent of innovations of her company are anchored in external collaborations. Representatives of UCB and Amgen presented similar numbers. Merck’s chief innovation officer, Christoph Hüls, explained in a further keynote the company’s strategy to promote cross-sectoral innovation. The “secret sauce” of successful innovation are people, places, processes and products, according to Hüls. In order to create an optimal environment for innovation, Merck will open a new innovation center in Darmstadt next year.
In the oncology panel, representatives of AbbVie and Merck presented their pipelines and partnering activities. Speakers of Menarini and Selvita highlighted a recently established cooperation for a drug against acute myeloid leukemia. The experts emphasized that cooperation proposals need to have a strategic fit to the pharma partner. The importance to find new and disruptive therapeutic approaches instead of the development of more “me too” drugs was also a point raised during the discussions. Speakers of the companies MorphoSys, Pfizer and UCB talked about their activities in the indication of immunology and inflammation. MorphoSys presented the recent success story of their antibody Guselkumab for the therapy of psoriasis. In the session on business development and financing experts of Almirall, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, BioMed Partners, EMBL Ventures and Staatz debated among other things the significance of innovation, which indications other than oncology are still attractive and how collaborations with academia could be improved.
Also in the program were company presentations and start-up pitches which were supported by Science4Life.
“It was great to see so many attendees at the conference. It shows that the format of a family setting for a partnering event is successful and stresses biotech´s important role as innovation engine for the pharma industry. Collaborations are based on a good network and mutual trust built over time. The EBDC is the ideal event to establish contacts and to learn about the newest trends in business development for pharma and biotech”, says Peter Heinrich, president of BIO Deutschland.
The conference was supported by Technologiepark Heidelberg. Merck and Miltenyi Biotec supported the event as gold sponsor, Boehringer Ingelheim and CureVac as silver sponsors.
The conference was supported by Technologiepark Heidelberg. Merck and Miltenyi Biotec supported the event as gold sponsor, Boehringer Ingelheim and CureVac as silver sponsors.