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1st
EMBL/EMBO Joint Conference 2000 |
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Session
IV |
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Business with biotech Europe vs. USA: reality vs. wishful thinking |
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Friedrich von Bohlen, CEO, Lion Bioscience AG, Heidelberg, Germany
The European Biotech industry is still significantly lagging behind
the US industry despite the fact that science in Europe isn't worse
than in the US. What are the reasons, and can one expect that this
may change in the near future? First of all one has to benchmark certain
industry parameters to verify this statement. This can easily be done
by looking over the last three years at revenues, profits/losses,
number, size, capitalization and growth of companies in the USA vs.
Europe. From these numbers it becomes clear that Europe - in the best
case - didn't fall back more than the about 5 years it used to be
behind the USA. But it's not only industry benchmarks that demonstrate
the distance: It is also the importance Biotech plays in the awareness
of the systems and the consequence how Biotech gets promoted. It is
the fact that the 'New Thinkers' come from the USA, people who set
the standard in today's opinion leading discussions about the role,
importance and depth the industry will play for our future life and
society. It is the culture of the 'New Economy' that is also reflected
in the 'New Science' one can find in the USA but not in large parts
of Europe. Here it is important to understand the message: 'New' is
the driving attribute, a synonym for a modern, novel, pragmatic culture
and attitude of individuals.
Again, it is the USA that shows us and teaches us how that goes.
It is the pragmatic approach to form alliances limited in time between
science, small corporations, big companies and different sources
of money that allow us to taylor the right vehicle to address and
answer the right question quickly and efficiently. Europe has difficulties
in allowing and supporting such 'opportunistic' approaches. It is
simple to count the number of patents e.g. on gene/functions in
the USA and in Europe and to understand what this will mean for
the wealth of future societies. Overall there are many reasons why
it is fair to say that the USA are strongly driving the industry
and will do this very likely also for the next several decades.
It is not the intention of the speaker to judge this, but it is
the intention to trigger a discussion and an awareness process in
Europe to ask ourselves: what can we do, what will we do, what happens
if we do it or do not do it?
Biography
Friedrich von Bohlen received a degree in biochemistry from the
University of Zürich, and completed his doctoral thesis at
the Institute of Neurobiology at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, Zürich.
After several years as project manager at different companies
[Fresenius AG, FAG Kugelfischer KGaA, WASAG Chemie AG], in March
1997 he co-founded LION Bioscience AG [Heidelberg, Germany], a successful
biotechnology company specializing in bioinformatics and genome
analysis for the life science industry.
He has received several recognitions including the Innovation
Prize of the SPD [1997], McKinsey/Sparkasse/Stern1s Startup Prize
[1998], and was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young,
SAP, Manager Magazin in 1999. He is a Member of the Board of VCI
[Verband der Chemischen Industrie], Baden Württemberg, DIB [Deutsche
Industrievereinigung Biotechnologie], Deutschland, and Tripos, Inc.,
St. Louis, MO. |
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