Anke Cassing

What’s next for the #pharma industry in Germany?   This was just one of many important questions I heard addressed at the Handelsblatt Pharmaceutical Conference in Berlin—a key event for the German pharma sector.  This year’s meeting offered an insightful and timely look at our country’s future as a #biopharma industry hub. There were many valuable discussions covering a wide range of topics: pressures on pricing and reimbursement, intense competition, rising healthcare costs, a shortage of skilled workers, the impact of AI, therapeutic innovation, and more.  It's encouraging to see the pharma industry playing a more and more important role in the German market, but its long-term success depends on effectively navigating these many complex issues. Our team at Vetter Pharma believes the implemented German pharmaceutical strategy is a strong, important step in the right direction – especially given the lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic regarding the security of supply and critical dependencies.  I very much enjoyed participating in the panel discussion "Germany, USA, or Asia? Industry considerations live from the practice level." It was excellently moderated by #Handelsblatt editor Theresa Rauffmann and also included Benedikt von Braunmühl, CEO of Rentschler Biopharma – our valued partner in the Xpert Alliance. They’re also a #CDMO with a shared mindset as a family-owned, globally operating business. A special thank you to the Verband Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller e.V. (VFA) and its president Han Steutel for their strategic support in making this event possible. Vetter is a proud member of this organization, which serves as a vital advocate for a strong and innovative pharmaceutical landscape in Germany and beyond. #GermanPharma #FutureofPharma #HealthCareInnovation #HBPharma

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I am very pleased to share that CSL Behring in Germany has successfully concluded negotiations with the GKV-Spitzenverband on an innovative, national, success-based reimbursement model for an advanced therapy medicinal product in haemophilia. This model is being implemented for the first time in Germany. It adds to the "reimbursement toolbox" for the national payer in Germany. This success underscores our commitment to pioneering therapies that not only improve patient care but also set new standards in the healthcare industry. The performance-based payment model addresses key challenges, such as the question of long-term durability reimbursement to the treatment success of each individual patient – with the added potential to reduce long-term costs for the healthcare system. If the drug's effectiveness exceeds the agreed timeframe of the durability guarantee, the healthcare system will save the equivalent of the annual therapy costs of other treatments in the therapeutic area. This model differs from previous cohort models and represents a significant advancement in gene therapy reimbursement, where the performance model is defined at a national level, but success is tracked individually. This is the novelty in Germany! We are proud to lead the way in bringing innovative therapies to patients in Germany and look forward to continuing our mission to enhance the lives of patients worldwide.

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Today’s panel, titled “Can POC manufacturing meet quality requirements” Johanne Press Wegeberg sees a future where “thaw and inject” is the norm. Moderated by Bernd Schröder, the panel also included Patrick Hanley, Ph.D. and Erin Bassett, PhD. And an interesting question was posed, how do we provide reproducible and robust training from site to site that supports #decentralizedmanufacturing? #Automation and automated technology will assist, but we must find a way to scale training as well. #workforce It’s clear that moving therapies into community hospitals will bring challenges ranging from preparing for FDA inspections, addressing IT challenges (think single sign on) and even addressing #cybersecurity concerns. These challenges exist today in COE’s and large hospitals. Lessons learned will have to be shared. #ISCT2025

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BioNTech has announced a $1.25 billion all-stock acquisition of CureVac, uniting two pioneers in mRNA science under one organization. The deal, expected to close later this year, will see CureVac become a wholly owned subsidiary of BioNTech. While the transaction does not highlight specific pipeline assets, BioNTech emphasized CureVac’s R&D and manufacturing site in Tübingen as a key strategic asset. The acquisition is positioned as a step forward in BioNTech’s oncology strategy, enhancing its capacity to develop and commercialize mRNA-based cancer immunotherapies. Both companies have spent decades advancing mRNA technologies from different perspectives. This consolidation brings together complementary scientific and manufacturing capabilities to accelerate innovation in cancer treatment and support BioNTech’s goal of establishing new standards of care across oncology. As the mRNA field matures beyond infectious disease, this deal reflects a broader shift toward platform convergence and infrastructure integration, two critical enablers for the next generation of mRNA technology.

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Happy to share our new preprint reporting a direct comparison of transposon-based and lentiviral CAR T manufacturing approaches. This study, lead by Simon Stücheli and Christoph Schultheiß, reveals phenotypic differences in T cells based on production methods, even without antigen exposure. Notably, CAR transposition poses challenges with patient-derived T cells and appears to promote an exhaustion-like phenotype via RIG-I sensing of transposase-encoding mRNA. Many thanks also to Heinz Läubli, Sarah Adamo and all the other authors for this great team effort! Read at bioRxiv https://lnkd.in/eSfYBx-d

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Our second gene therapy candidate is a GIP/ GLP-1 dual agonist. Here's a brilliant new comprehensive review of GIP from Timo Müller, Matthias H. Tschöp, Bo Ahren, Andreas Birkenfeld, Stefano Del Prato, Ruth Gimeno, Fiona Gribble, Jens Juul Holst and colleagues https://lnkd.in/dkuf_Y2D

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💊🎲 Which pharma companies have more "luck" in drug R&D? 🎯📊 Clinical success rates from leading pharma companies: First, I want to thank Alexander Schuhmacher & Oliver Gassmann - and their co-authors - for once again helping us all drive a better and much-needed conversation on pharma R&D productivity. The topic is rare in academia - so, thanks! The authors used a fairly simple "linear input-to-output approach" to estimate the Likelihood of Approval (LoA) from Phase I to Approval across some leading companies (see the paper and Limitations section). This method is - like any other method - not perfect, but it gives us "one take on things". 💡 Again, the data tell us that end-to-end clinical success rates are too low (just 14.3% on average) to relieve pressure on the industry's return on investment on innovation. 💡 Leading companies are not created equal in terms of LoA: there is roughly a x3 difference from top to bottom in just this sample. Of course, the clinical success rates / LoA do not measure "luck" but is a complex aggregate construct of many factors: 💫 Therapy area focus 💫 Modality focus 💫 Innovation height (e.g., higher "bar" - lower LoA?) 💫 R&D "philosophy" (e.g., de-risking approach) and general expertise 💫 Decision quality 💫 ... And one important factor to keep in mind: 💰 Clinical success rates say very little, if anything, about "commercial success rates". So, high/low LoA is not, per se, good/bad - there is more to the R&D productivity equation to make it all add up in an attractive way. Also: Being on opposite ends of the plot does not really mean that you are overall better or worse (for example: Novo Nordisk is not x2 "better" than Eli Lilly and Company - both are stellar companies; Eli Lilly also in tough TAs like neuro, not just incretins). ❓ Curious to learn if you have any reflections on the data? 📜 "Benchmarking R&D success rates of leading pharmaceutical companies: an empirical analysis of FDA approvals (2006–2022)"; Alexander Schuhmacher, Markus Hinder, Elazar Brief, Oliver Gassmann, Dominik Hartl, Drug Discovery Today, Jan. 2025 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dTEyzXdA #ClinicalSuccessRates #RDproductivity #NovoNordisk #EliLilly #Amgen #AbbVie #GSK

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🚀 Tomocube's Industrial Inspection Product is Almost Ready for Launch! Despite limited resources, we’ve moved faster than planned toward the release of our new industrial inspection solution. I want to thank all my colleagues who’ve worked tirelessly through many challenges over the past few years to make this possible. 💡 The toughest challenge wasn’t technical—it was internal skepticism. Overcoming voices of doubt like "It won’t work," "Don’t get your hopes up," or "A company like ours can’t do that," was the hardest part. But our incredible team pushed through, achieving what once seemed impossible. Their determination and creativity went far beyond expectations. 🔬 TOMOCUBE, INC. is pioneering a new era in label-free imaging of 3D biology using holotomography. Without fluorescent or chemical staining, our technology enables long-term, high-resolution 3D imaging of living cells. It's opening new possibilities in cell biology, regenerative medicine, organoid research, 3D histopathology, and drug discovery. Our work was recently highlighted in a special feature on label-free imaging in Nature Methods. 🏭 Now we’re expanding beyond biology. Holotomography is being applied to industrial inspection and metrology of semiconductor and display components. From hybrid bonding and glass substrates to TGV, OLED, and microLED, our solution enables ultra-high-resolution, non-destructive 3D inspection—something conventional technologies can't offer. 📎 For more details, see the link below. Link to download the PPT slides: https://lnkd.in/gTH6vFGX If you're curious about how holotomography can be used for semiconductor or display inspection, feel free to reach out. #Semiconductor #DisplayTechnology #GlassSubstrate #MicroLED #OLED #3DInspection #NonDestructiveTesting #AdvancedMetrology #HybridBonding #ThroughGlassVia

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