4. The responsibility of businesses and governments

Companies are preparing for the transformations underway. For example, in the field of drug development with new biologicals or biosimilars, which are drugs created through biotechnology, comparable to an innovative drug whose patent has expired.

“Our challenge is to transfer knowledge of how structures work to establish quick, scalable processes through drug launch. They are highly complex processes because manufacturing depends on living systems,” explained Ralf Schumacher, head of Bioprocesses and Pharmaceutical Development in the Biologicals Development Unit at Germany company Boehringer Ingelheim.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is also gaining ground in this area. Børge Diderichsen, vice-president of the Danish laboratory Novo Nordisk, gave some details on actions the company is working on in this field, like producing low-cost insulin in developing countries and launching programs to fight gestational diabetes and childhood type-1 diabetes.

“At the same time, we have responsibilities in terms of the environment to minimize the negative impact of our factories, so that we produce more and more with less water and energy and producing less CO₂,” he highlighted.

Additionally, the government, as the one footing the bill, is looking for better results in terms of health in a sustainable environment. “The new biodrugs require a significant amount of innovation today, and this must increase. This is why we have launched a program to improve access to innovative drugs in Catalonia,” stressed Josep Torrent-Farnell, director of Medicine for the Servei Català de la Salut (CatSalut) and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). In his mind, public-private partnership is key.

For Jordi Naval, director of Fundació Bosch i Gimpera and co-founder of Aelix Therapeutics, the innovation ecosystem must be based on three key components: academic research, investors (public and private) and industry to license or acquire technology. Additionally, there must be technology transfer offices, specialized suppliers and entrepreneurs, and experienced start-ups.

“Society pays me to do research and researchers, in theory, provide solutions. But, in reality, what we’re producing is articles in scientific journals. We have the responsibility to provide solutions, like new drugs or industrial processes, that add value,” Naval pronounced.