Europe’s pharma industry risks lagging behind US and China, says German drugmaker

{"text":[[{"start":9.6,"text":"The world’s largest private pharmaceutical group has warned Europe risks falling behind the US and China on access to new medicines, as the German company hailed positive trial results of its weight-loss drug."}],[{"start":21.85,"text":"Shashank Deshpande, chair of Boehringer Ingelheim, criticised Europe’s pricing regime, warning the region risked ceding its leadership in pharmaceutical innovation. "}],[{"start":31.3,"text":"“Europe has a choice. Do we want to continue being a leader in pharmaceuticals or do we also want to yield this industry to the US and especially China, which is rapidly increasing in terms of its pharmaceutical innovation,” he said. "}],[{"start":44.5,"text":"Without reform, he added, the sector could become dependent on China “at a time when we’re super-dependent on China and India for generics”."}],[{"start":52.6,"text":"Deshpande, who has led the group since 2024, said Europe risked falling further behind unless it increased spending on medicines — a concern echoed by several pharma leaders in recent months as President Donald Trump has pushed the industry to reduce prices for US patients."}],[{"start":71.25,"text":"Deshpande cited Boehringer’s lung cancer drug Hernexeos, launched in the US, China and Japan but not in Europe because its public health systems are offering insufficient money for the medicine."}],[{"start":84.05,"text":"He said: “Here in Germany and all over Europe where we invented this drug . . . it is not available primarily for reimbursement purposes because we have to complete an additional trial with an active comparator to achieve acceptable pricing.”"}],[{"start":98.85,"text":"“If people in Europe had this cancer, their only chance to use the drug would be to fly to America. I can’t explain this to anybody here quite frankly and it’s a shame.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":108.8,"text":"His warning came as Boehringer, which generated €27.8bn in sales last year across its human and animal health business, announced positive results for a late-stage trial of its weight-loss drug survodutide."}],[{"start":122.7,"text":"Boehringer said survodutide, which it licensed from Copenhagen-listed Zealand Pharma, delivered “sustained” average weight loss of up to 16.6 per cent in adults living with obesity and being overweight without type 2 diabetes in a 76-week study. Weight loss in the placebo group was 3.2 per cent. "}],[{"start":142.65,"text":"The company said the drug also resulted in a reduction in waist circumference, an indicator closely linked to fat, which can impair liver function. Boehringer is betting that the drug’s benefits beyond weight loss will help it compete in an obesity treatment market dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly."}],[{"start":160.15,"text":"Deshpande said the drug’s “dual agonism”, which targets the natural hormones glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucagon, was unmatched outside China. “The GLP-1 controls your energy intake, while the glucagon acts in the liver and on the fat there,” he said. "}],[{"start":176.6,"text":"“We are seeing not only weight loss but . . . we’re seeing very interesting results when it comes to visceral fat reduction and liver fat.”"}],[{"start":185.1,"text":"Deshpande declined to comment on when Boehringer might submit the drug to regulatory authorities for approval as a weight-loss treatment. "}],[{"start":193,"text":"Boehringer is studying whether survodutide can treat patients with liver fibrosis, a condition in which scar tissue replaces healthy liver cells, disrupting normal function. Deshpande said its research uses very severe cases to show it “has the ability to reshape the liver . . . and get mileage out of a very sick liver”. "}],[{"start":214.45,"text":"A mid-stage trial in 2024 found survodutide produced a “statistically significant improvement” in 83 per cent of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, in which excess fat deposits build up in the liver. "}],[{"start":237.54999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777368485_7121.mp3"}