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On October 13, 2016 Federal Minister of Health, Mr. Hermann Groehe and Under-Secretary of State Ms. Annette Widmann-Mauz, member of the German parliament, have been invited by Dr. Ingmar Hoerr, co-founder and CEO of Curevac AG, Tuebingen, a German biotech company focused on the development of RNA-therapeutics, to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the development of new therapeutics in Germany together with Dr. Holger Zinke from B.R.A.I.N. AG, Dr. Saskia and Dr. Dirk Biskup, CeGaT GmbH and Prof. Dr. Stephan Wnendt, MLM Medical Labs GmbH. Under-Secretary of State Ms.

Annette Widmann-Mauz described the high potential of the life science industry of Tübingen with Curevac being an excellent example for a successful academic spin-off. In his introduction Dr. Hoerr explained the need for new therapeutic approaches that go beyond the classical pharmacological strategies of small-molecular weight drugs and described RNA-therapeutics as one potential answer for the treatment of diseases that cannot be cured today. He also stressed the need for entrepreneurial passion and tenacity which are necessary to build a company from scratch – especially when the core idea of the company, the use of RNA as therapeutic principle, is contrary to the mainstream therapeutic approaches at the time Curevac AG in 2000. Dr. Holger Zinke requested in his speech a greater awareness of the political discussion for the bioeconomical transition that is currently taking place.

This transition will change our world not only in the therapeutic field but also with respect to the food and chemical industry. Federal Minister Mr. Groehe proposed in his introduction that Germany must keep its role as leading country for the development and clinical testing of new investigational medicines and referred to the positive outcomes of the pharma-dialogue between different stake-holders in 2015 and 2016. Prof. Dr. Wnendt confirmed in contribution that Germany is indeed very well positioned for the conduct of clinical studies. However, there is competition and we need to actively defend this position.

Therefore, it is very well appreciated that the application procedures for clinical trial applications involving radiation, e.g. X-ray investigations, or studies with subjects with neurodegenerative diseases will be improved. Another aspect that needs to be improved is the work of ethics committees which might benefit from harmonised rules for the assessment of clinical trial applications. Prof. Dr. Wnendt furthermore pointed out that the development of new therapeutic treatments for diseases that cannot be cured so far is only possible when breakthrough innovations are sufficiently economically rewarded for the stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry.

Although the desire to cure diseases is a strong motivator for the people working in the health industry, it is mandatory that breakthrough innovations are acknowledged financially as well. Dr. Saskia Biskup finally requested to reduce the bureaucratic burden for molecular diagnostics in normal patient care in the interaction with the health insurance providers. Dr. Dirk Biskup briefly discussed the regulatory challenges with respect to highly individualised, patient-specific genetic treatments. The roundtable discussion was closed by a very passionate pleading by Dr. Ingmar Hoerr to join up for a strong repositioning of Germany as one of the leading countries for the development of highly innovative new therapeutics.