Growing biopharmaceuticals market still not fully exploited in Germany

Biopharmaceutical products accounted for Euro 3.13bn or 12% of the entire pharmaceuticals market (€25.4bn) in Germany last year, according to a new study.

In some indications, the amount of biopharmaceuticals as a percentage of all drugs sold is much higher: 21% in oncology, 24% in haematology, 22% in infectious diseases and 23% in the treatment of metabolic disorders.

Some 11 out of the 36 newly approved drugs in Germany last year were biopharmaceuticals, said the report, which was written by The Boston Consulting Group study and commissioned by VFA Bio, a special interest group within the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA).

But despite their benefits, biopharmaceuticals were still not being used as widely as they could be, according to Frank Matthias, chairman of VFA Bio and head of Amgen's German unit.

'Early treatment with immune suppressant and immune modulator drugs, which cost about €9,000 a year, can delay progression to multiple sclerosis disability level four for years.' he said. 'But once a patient has reached level four, you are looking at a loss of productiveness of €17,000 per patient per year, not to mention additional treatment and care costs of €4,000 euros annually.'

He claimed that some 33% of multiple sclerosis patients were not getting the treatment they needed. 'Fixation on the cost of drugs is too short-term and does not take into account other expenditure,' said Matthias.

He called for international standards on cost-effectiveness to be introduced in Germany as well as less bureaucracy and guidelines on how to implement the second opinion ruling when doctors need to prescribe expensive drugs.

Last year, Germany's pharma and biotech companies had 321 biopharmaceuticals in clinical trials (123 in Phase I, 135 in Phase II and 63 in Phase III). In 2005, the total figure was 256 (102 in Phase I, 105 in Phase II and 49 in Phase III). A third of the 321 biopharmaceuticals in clinical trials are in oncology (47 in Phase I, 46 in Phase II and 13 in Phase III).

A year after it was founded, VFA Bio now boasts 22 members: Abbott, Actelion, Amgen, Artemis, Bayer Healthcare, Biogen idec, Boehringer Ingelheim, Evotec, Genzyme, Gilead, Janssen-Cilag, Jerini, Lilly, Merck Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Paion, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Scil, UCB and Wyeth.