{"id":155054,"date":"2016-04-28T08:42:36","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T05:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/bayer-opens-the-door-to-new-ideas\/"},"modified":"2024-03-13T11:10:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T09:10:44","slug":"bayer-opens-the-door-to-new-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/bayer-opens-the-door-to-new-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Bayer opens the door to new ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pharmaceutical companies are generally viewed as rather conservative. Eike Kingsepp, Corporate Communication Manager for Baltic countries, assures, however, that pharma has kept pace with changes brought about by the digital age. \u201cToday the bulk of pharmaceutical research is done by computers and digital simulation. This side of our work remains largely hidden from the public. It is in new drug development that innovation makes the biggest difference. Today we can say that we have found the areas with the highest development potential,\u201d says Ms Kingsepp.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The global biotech group has become much more open-minded and is taking every opportunity to tap\u00a0into new ideas and innovative thinking. \u201cAt the global level, Bayer has launched several initiatives and\u00a0competitions aiming to get young startups off the ground. The competitions, which started off in\u00a0Europe, have by now become surprisingly popular all over the world. This makes us more accessible for\u00a0startups. Our initiatives open up opportunities for people and companies who would otherwise be kept\u00a0out of the industry by the strict regulatory criteria,\u201d says Kingsepp.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Medikeep: a success story backed by Bayer<\/h3>\n

The Estonia-based Medikeep is a good example of how a digital health startup who received support\u00a0and funding from Bayer is all set to conquer the world. Kingsepp explains that Medikeep has developed\u00a0\u2018a pharmacy in your pocket\u2019 \u2013 a medication management app that allows people to keep track of\u00a0medication taking by themselves and their family members.\"_TTP5904\" The app also helps users keep an inventory\u00a0of the contents of their home medicine cabinets. \u201cThe founders of Medikeep participated in the\u00a0competition last year and were one of the five companies selected for the Bayer accelerator\u00a0programme. They spent three intensive months at Bayer offices in Berlin where they received mentoring\u00a0by Bayer experts and worked mainly on backing up their product with a variety of activities from\u00a0effective presentation to business plan development. In March they should release a new version of\u00a0their product with which they hope to reach the global market,\u201d says Kingsepp.<\/p>\n

She explains that while the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical drugs is strictly regulated and supervised, not much is known about what happens after the patient leaves the pharmacy with the medication. \u201cSurveys have shown that medication non-adherence and lack of control over whether regimens are followed as due are common problems. Non-adherence to antibiotic treatment is a particularly topical issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is important to understand why patients stop taking their medications: is it because of side effects\u00a0(side effects are currently not included in the Medikeep app but might be in the future), do patients\u00a0simply forget to take them (the app offers a reminder feature) or do patients just feel they have to take\u00a0too many medications and decide to change the dosage themselves. The whole field of medication\u00a0compliance needs support and Medikeep has taken a step towards providing it,\u201d says Kingsepp.\u00a0She underlines the continuing importance of patient empowerment: \u201cMedikeep is not just another\u00a0calendar but a mobile app capable of influencing the patients\u2019 behaviour. The patients should be able to\u00a0share the information with the doctor, which may bring about a change in the patient\u2019s behaviour.\u00a0Sending information from the app or the device to the doctors should become easier: in case of a blood\u00a0pressure monitor, for example, performing the measurement is not enough if the patient does not know\u00a0how to set the monitor up for use or if there is no communication link with the doctor. Home\u00a0diagnostics is a fast-developing field and we need to ask how all the information should be organised\u00a0and who will analyse it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Startups and global corporations share the same goals<\/h3>\n

Kingsepp recalls an interview by Medikeep founder and manager Kerti Alev where she compared a\u00a0small startup to a punk band and a corporation to a large orchestra \u2013 at the end of the day, they both\u00a0make music. \u201cThey have so many interfaces that we should focus on our common goals rather than\u00a0differences. The pharmaceutical industry has an image \u2013 perhaps partially deserved \u2013 of a rather closed\u00a0and detached sector. We should be more open as we need the information and knowledge from outside\u00a0and we also wish to show that we are not an enclosed microcosm living a life of its own. We are part of\u00a0the society and our products are designed to help people,\u201d says Kingsepp, comparing small and large\u00a0enterprises.<\/p>\n

Bayer wishes to be more accessible and to open R&D doors for those who might otherwise get\u00a0lost in the overly bureaucratic system.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This new way of thinking has led to the launch of several funding programmes by Bayer. Grants4Apps \u2013\u00a0the programme in which Medikeep participated \u2013 is a global funding initiative. The other four winning\u00a0projects came from the US, Germany, Canada and China.<\/p>\n

\u201cA new round of the programme is now open\u00a0for submissions and we encourage all health technology startups to participate. We hope to see also\u00a0other healthcare solutions besides mobile apps, such as medical devices,\u201d says Kingsepp.<\/p>\n

The Grants4Indication programme focuses on drug development. \u201cGrants are offered to young scientists\u00a0with ideas for new indications using Bayer compounds. Today 85% of new drugs come from established\u00a0pharmaceutical companies, a small share from universities and even a smaller share from other sources.\u00a0We would like to see a change here and new ideas coming in from outside the established pharma\u00a0industry. Bayer wishes to be more accessible and to open R&D doors for those who might otherwise get\u00a0lost in the overly bureaucratic system. Patient safety of course remains a key concern \u2013 it is with good\u00a0reason that the pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated and with high entry barriers,\u201d says\u00a0Kingsepp.<\/p>\n

\"_TTP5873\"<\/p>\n

While continuing to invest in its own research, Bayer hopes to see an inflow of fresh and innovative ideas from \u2018outsiders\u2019. The strategy is beginning to bear fruit: for example, the Norwegian cancer drug maker Algeta, which Bayer acquired some time ago, grew out of a startup.<\/p>\n

Looking into the future, Bayer intends to increase its presence in Estonia, participate more in the society and and contribute \"_TTP5899\"more significantly to the healthcare system. \u201cAs a small country open to change, we can test new technologies and then share our lessons with
\nothers \u2013 what needs to be changed and how could our mistakes be avoided,\u201d says Kingsepp. She certainly hopes to see other successful apps developed in Estonia. She says that this is very likely to happen as Estonians are known across the world for their goal-orientedness and can-do attitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pharmaceutical companies are generally viewed as rather conservative. Eike Kingsepp, Corporate Communication Manager for Baltic countries, assures, however, that pharma has kept pace with changes brought about by the digital age. \u201cToday the bulk of pharmaceutical research is done by computers and digital simulation. This side of our work remains largely hidden from the public. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":155055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155383,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155054\/revisions\/155383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tehnopol.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}