German biopharmaceuticals' growth curbed by drug pricing reforms

Demand for biopharmaceuticals continued to expand in Germany last year. Turnover in the genetically engineered drugs sector jumped by 8% to 4.9 billion euros ($6.96 billion) and now accounts for 17% of the overall drugs market.

Biopharmaceuticals have proved capable of treating a wide range of ailments and have therefore been prescribed for a growing number of patients over the past few years, said Frank Mathias, chief executive of MediGene AG and chairman of VFA BIO, the biotechnology branch of the German pharmaceutical association VFA.

Commenting on “Medicinal Biotechnology 2011,” a new report on biopharma by Boston Consulting Group produced for VFA BIO, Dr Mathias noted that prices had remained stable in 2010, so the sector’s revenue growth was due entirely to higher demand. According to the study, which encompasses the biopharma businesses of large drug groups and those of small- and medium-sized enterprises, biopharmaceuticals have been especially successful in immunology and oncology. In these subfields they respectively account for 74% and 32% of all the drugs on the market.