"Biotechnology meets health economics" was the motto of this year's Health Economics Talks at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society on October 14, 2022. The symposium, initiated and organized by the Institute for Management, Economics and Healthcare (IMÖVG), brought together experts and decision-makers from medical biotechnology companies, politics, healthcare and science and provided impetus for successfully mastering the challenges facing the innovative biotechnology industry in the interests of efficient medical care. Clemens Hoch, Minister for Science and Health in Rhineland-Palatinate, kicked off the high-profile symposium by highlighting the success factors for the development of biotechnology clusters from a political perspective.
Germany has the opportunity to become a leading international biotechnology location. Thanks to the first mRNA vaccine from Mainz, our state has gained worldwide visibility," formulated the ruling traffic light coalition in its coalition agreement. Against this backdrop, the Health Economic Talks 2022 were dedicated to so-called "red" biotechnology, the application of biotechnological processes in medical care, from a health economic perspective. The mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19 from BioNTech is certainly the best-known success of these innovative processes. However, the enormous importance of red biotechnology is also demonstrated by sober figures: For example, so-called biopharmaceuticals now account for almost half of all newly approved drugs in Germany.
The enormous increase in importance of the topic became clear right at the start of the symposium: After the welcome address to the 19th Health Economics Talks by Vice President Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck and Prof. Dr. Eveline Häusler, Dean of the Management, Controlling, HealthCare Department, Heike Arend, Managing Director of the Rhineland-Palatinate Future Initiative (ZIRP), outlined the enormous future potential of biotechnology for Rhineland-Palatinate in her welcoming address and attested to the "tremendous dynamism" of the subject area. At the same time, Arend also asked how biotechnological research and know-how could be transferred into entrepreneurial action and pleaded for a "courageous approach" to the available data treasures, following the French or Swedish example. This was a wonderful lead-in to the speech "Upscaling the BioNTech Experience: Success factors for the development of a biotechnology cluster in Rhineland-Palatinate" by Clemens Hoch, Minister of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate:
"The Health Economics Talks at the HWG LU are not only a first address for the exchange of all sectors of the healthcare system with science and politics, but are now also a very nice tradition," said Minister Clemens Hoch. "The main topic of the conference 'Biotechnology meets health economics' builds bridges between health, research and transfer. Biotechnology is one of the state's major future and cross-sectional projects. It is not without reason that the state government has provided over 200 million euros over the past ten years for research funding, research-related infrastructure and construction measures as well as for the establishment of non-university research institutions in the life sciences and health-related research."
Dr. Gösta Jamin, Professor of Finance and Banking at the Department of Services and Consulting, then turned his attention to the topic of "Healthcare BioTech and venture capital". On the one hand, he outlined why investments in the biotechnology sector are a high-risk investment - very high investment sums, long payback periods. At the same time, based on his extensive consulting experience with start-ups, Jamin also showed how more investor funds could be mobilized for this sector, for example through venture capital firms specializing in biotechnology, the opening of capital collection agencies (insurance companies, pension funds) for riskier investments or a state venture capital fund, the management of which must be independent of political guidelines, according to Jamin.
Dr. Sandra Zimmermann, Head of International Social Policy at the WifOR Institute based in Darmstadt, then dealt with the quantification of the value added contribution of the healthcare biotech sector in Europe. She impressively demonstrated the high added value of pharmaceutical biotechnology in particular in Europe and the immense importance of the healthcare industry for the German and European economies: "The healthcare sector should no longer be viewed merely as a cost factor. The healthcare industry is a driver of growth and employment, and a stable healthcare system also guarantees prosperity," said Zimmermann. At the same time, she called for the framework conditions for biotechnology in Germany to be improved, as Germany has long since ceased to be "the pharmacy of the world" and is generating less growth in this segment than its European neighbors. A central aspect of this is the economic importance of data, which is the basis for new business models and technological processes.
Finally, Fabian Berkemeier, Head of Value & Access Strategy at the Berlin-based company IGES, dealt with the regulations of the healthcare system and the refinancing of research and development through successful innovations in pharmaceutical biotechnology. In his presentation "Innovative Reimbursement - Modelsfor high-priced therapeutic approaches", Berkemeier outlined the shift in the pharmaceutical industry from the development of drugs for major common diseases to more targeted therapies with smaller numbers of patients. He countered the resulting vicious circle of high prices for refinancing, increased control by the payers and the associated restrictions on access to the drugs, resulting in further price increases, with various models: for example, repayments by the manufacturer in the event of treatment failure, cohort models or installment payments.
The organizers of the Health Economics Talks were also satisfied with the 19th edition of the symposium: "The conference succeeded in building a bridge between the challenges that arise in connection with the further development of biotechnology as an innovative industry of the future on the one hand and health economic knowledge and design expertise on the other. The numerous questions and comments from the audience show how highly the players in the healthcare sector, be they health insurance companies, service providers or the healthcare industry, rate the importance of this technology and the resulting challenges for their own field of activity. The need for suitably qualified specialists was emphasized several times. With its existing expertise not only in the field of health economics, but also in areas such as innovation management, data analytics and finance, the HWG LU can contribute to the training of specialists and the "translation of research into value creation", to pick up on a phrase from the conference," concluded Prof. Dr. Elke Raum and Prof. Dr. Eveline Häusler.
Specialist contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Management, Controlling, HealthCare
Prof. Dr. Eveline Häusler
Dean
Tel. 0621 5203-135
Email: eveline.haeusler@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
Prof. Dr. Elke Raum
Chair of Medical Management
Tel. 0621/5203-126
E-mail: elke.raum@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
