Greece contributes to Bayer’s ‘global innovation engine’

“Greece has a excavation of highly trained scientists, doctors and researchers, galore with valuable planetary experience, while universities and objective centers are well-integrated into European probe networks, making the state an charismatic destination for multinational objective trials,” says Bill Anderson, president of the Board of Management of the German multinational pharmaceutical giant, Bayer AG.

“Greece is not lone an important market, which we’ve been supporting for 70 years, working intimately with section companies similar K&N Efthymiadis, but it’s besides a contributor to our planetary innovation motor – for the improvement of medicines, arsenic well arsenic caller harvest extortion products, seeds, and integer solutions to support farmers,” helium tells Kathimerini.

Anderson was successful Athens this week for the 90th day lawsuit of Efthymiadis Agrotechnology, a strategic partner, where helium was the keynote speaker. During his visit, helium besides met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “For Bayer, Greece is an integral portion of our planetary objective trials program,” said the caput of the German group. Regarding the sector’s planetary prospects, helium sees maturation successful areas of beingness hold and prime of life, which “remain astatine the halfway of our mission.”

He besides expressed assurance that “AI will accelerate discovery, including successful the so-called ‘undruggable’ space, while compartment therapies and cistron therapies unfastened wholly caller frontiers.”

He believes that “Greek agriculture has the imaginable to excel successful producing high-quality, sustainable products that conscionable some home and planetary demand.” However, helium remains cautious astir a Europe-wide overhaul of the industry’s regulatory framework, and emphasized the request “to rethink however we value innovation and to found a legislative model that provides predictability for investors, incentives for innovation, and applicable pathways for faster diligent access.”

How important is your Greek subsidiary to your group? 

We person a agelong and arrogant past successful Greece since 1955, and our subsidiary present is an integral portion of the group’s planetary operations. Greece is not lone an important market, which we’ve been supporting for 70 years, working intimately with section companies similar K&N Efthymiadis, but it’s besides a contributor to our planetary innovation motor – for the improvement of medicines conscionable arsenic well arsenic caller harvest extortion products, seeds, and integer solutions to support farmers. So each successful all, Bayer successful Greece is overmuch much than a commercialized affiliate – it is simply a strategic spouse for the group’s ambitions successful wellness and agriculture worldwide.

Could Greece further make pharmaceutical research, improvement and accumulation – and under what conditions?

Boosting R&D is something that the EU should bash collectively by processing a world-leading regulatory model conducive to innovation, to reignite Europe’s beingness sciences ecosystem. Greece tin and should play an important relation successful this, akin to different initiatives that the state has taken astatine EU level. We cognize that Greece has a excavation of highly trained scientists, doctors and researchers, galore with planetary experience. Universities and objective centers are well integrated into European probe networks, making Greece charismatic for multinational trials. For Bayer, Greece is an integral portion for our planetary objective trials program. During the play 2022-2025, Bayer supported 18 interventional Phase II and III objective trials successful Greece, astatine 130 probe centers. The objective studies were mostly conducted astatine nationalist hospitals successful the country, providing entree to innovative treatments for implicit 1,600 patients with cardiovascular, neurological, nephrological, oncological, ophthalmological and gynecological diseases.

Which areas bash you spot arsenic having the top maturation imaginable within the industry? Are life-extending therapies among them?

We spot the top maturation successful areas of high-unmet need, peculiarly successful cardiovascular disease, oncology, and Parkinson’s disease, where extending lives and improving prime of beingness remains astatine the halfway of our mission. AI will accelerate discovery, including successful the so-called “undruggable” space, while compartment therapies and cistron therapies unfastened wholly caller frontiers successful however we treat and perchance transform these diseases.

In the caller planetary geo-economic situation shaped by tariff policies and the emergence of large Asian economies such arsenic India and China, what is your group’s strategy?

Indeed, we are experiencing large geopolitical and geo-economical shifts – and I wouldn’t bounds this to caller tariff regimes, oregon the relation of Asian economies. The planetary bid is entering a fragmented multilateral setting. Countries similar Brazil, India, Indonesia oregon South Africa are gaining much influential seats astatine the table. The decreasing availability of resources successful the look of mounting pressures done clime alteration and increasing demographic disbalances are different important development. This demands that multinational companies similar ours enactment strategically: mounting up geopolitical hazard and absorption capacities; diversifying supply chains, procurement structures and accumulation networks; adapting maturation strategies to this fragmented world; investing successful sustainable innovation; progressive dialog with governments successful applicable markets. In a fast-paced world, it’s indispensable that companies enactment dynamically and accelerated without being tangled up successful bureaucracy – a way we entered astatine Bayer two years ago. 

Agriculture successful Greece remains vital some economically and culturally. Looking forward, what are the cardinal factors needed to heighten the sustainability and prime of agriculture successful Greece?

Agriculture successful Greece has the imaginable to excel successful producing high-quality, sustainable nutrient that meets some home and planetary demand. To harness this potential, it is important to support the improvement and exertion of innovations that tin guarantee Greek farmers are environmentally, socially and financially sustainable. Establishing a semipermanent vision that encourages concern and facilitates the faster adoption of innovative practices will beryllium cardinal to transforming the sector. Additionally, progressive support for husbandman training programs will beryllium indispensable successful facilitating a much successful adoption of caller technologies, ultimately starring to a much resilient and prosperous cultivation scenery successful Greece.

How competitory is the European pharmaceutical manufacture astatine an planetary level? Are there regulatory oregon different obstacles to its further development?

This is simply a captious clip for the pharmaceutical manufacture successful Europe. While we person large science, talent and innovation, there is nary uncertainty that Europe is falling down successful pharmaceutical competitiveness. We indispensable take enactment present to strengthen Europe’s capableness to discover, make and present the adjacent procreation of medicines. That requires rethinking however we value innovation, and a legislative model that provides predictability for investors, incentives for innovation, and applicable pathways for faster diligent access.

How does Bayer program to support the aboriginal of agriculture successful Greece?

Bayer Hellas maintains a enactment relation successful the Greek cultivation sector. We are an innovation-driven institution and support Greek farmers with solutions that assistance them unafraid yields much sustainably successful the look of expanding challenges done clime change. Let maine sanction some examples: In the adjacent fewer years, we will beryllium bringing a totally caller variety of maize to Greece. We telephone it Preceon Smart Corn, and what you instantly announcement astir it is that it’s astir a third shorter than traditional maize you are used to! This means it’s much resistant against dense winds, it tin beryllium planted much densely and delivers a superior yield. It’s a implicit game-changer successful however we attack maize cultivation. Secondly, we precocious submitted a registration exertion for our herbicide Icafolin successful the European Union. Icafolin is portion of a caller people of chemicals. It allows for little dose rates and much targeted application, and it demonstrates an exceptional information and sustainability profile. It is simply a complement to existing herbicides – that’s important, due to the fact that agriculture is dynamic. Weeds make resistances, so farmers ever request caller tools successful their toolbox. Additionally, we make and connection integer solutions, customized for Greek farmers, similar Nematool and ResiYou integer platforms for effect and vegetables, that support growers and different stakeholders successful the nutrient value concatenation to take the close decisions, connected and beyond the farm.