The pandemic year has been a busy one for Bayer’s pharmaceuticals division, with an “unprecedented” 25 collaborations and acquisitions being formalised in 2020.

But as it sets about executing these partnerships, the company appears to have an appetite for more. “I’m sure we will (look at more partnerships this year),” Michael Devoy, Executive Vice-President of Medical Affairs and Pharmacovigilance, Pharmaceuticals Division, and Chief Medical Officer with Bayer told BusinessLine , speaking from Germany.

“We are always open and searching for things that fit with the Bayer vision...It also has to make sense for the company that chooses to collaborate and partner with us,” he said.

Over a month ago, Bayer had signed a collaboration and services agreement with biopharma company CureVac NV, that makes medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). The agreement includes Bayer’s support towards the development and supply, among other things, of CureVac’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV.

Bayer will help CureVac in terms of supporting clinical operations, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, medical information and the supply chain, he explained.

“We are very focused on execution, and will continue to be active in looking for partnerships and collaborations to take forward our vision. We will execute and drive forward existing collaborations while actively looking to partner; these are both important,” he added.

Commenting on last year’s partnerships and strategy, Dr Devoy said,“We’ve focused on key areas such cell and gene therapy, digital health, and women’s health with KaNDy Therapeutics.”

There are six projects in clinical development under cell and gene therapy, he said. Recently, an investigational product for advanced Parkinson’s disease from their subsidiary BlueRock Therapeutics received the United States Food and Drug Administration’s approvals to proceed with early stage Phase I studies.

Asian market

While he did not single out any particular collaboration as more suited for India, he said, “We have a long history in India, and we are an active company bringing out products here. This country is very much part of our global Bayer footprint.”

Responding to a query on companies recasting their strategies to not be dependant on any one country to source products, he said, Bayer’s business footprint was across 86-plus countries, where China was important, but so was Japan, the US, rest of Asia and Europe.

Early in the pandemic, countries were becoming “inward looking”, he observed, but people have realised that “success is about collaboration, interdependency and networks.”

“In 2020, we learned to work in a different, agile, virtual way to navigate all the challenges. The first few months of 2021 will continue to present similar challenges, as the Covid-19 virus continues to impact the way we work and live,” he said, adding that the company would stay the course, executing goals, clinical activities, and research processes to get more products out for patients.

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