FOCUS Online : your portfolio company CureVac is working on a vaccine against the Coronavirus. You have some good news?
Friedrich von Bohlen : CureVac is developing a vaccine based on Messenger RNA (mRNA). Let me the short simplified to explain: With the mRNA of the body is able to produce its own drugs. In the particular case, it simulates the proteins on the surface of the corona virus and the immune system as a target. This is directed against cells and antibodies that recognize the Virus during the first contact, and destroy. You will not get sick.
to generate proteins via mRNA, is not rocket science. The process of drug but needs time, and there must be sufficient Material will be produced. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy must be demonstrated and guaranteed – this is all no Rocket Science, but it takes time.
as of today we can begin in the early summer with the Test of the vaccine in humans. The vaccine can be, if everything goes smoothly, by the end of this year.
All the information about the outbreak of Coronavirus: Coronavirus outbreak in the News-Ticker
FOCUS Online : The world is completely under the spell of the Coronavirus, the Biotech sector is probably the most. Work with the company in the development of vaccines and drugs – or against each other?
Planks : Currently 120 running about clinical trials for agents against the Virus. A third of them are vaccines that protect us from the Virus and differ in their mode of action greatly. Two-thirds are medications that fight the Virus after infection. Also, the part is very different.
of Course, this is not a race – but in the sense that companies struggle to be faster than competitors. No, the whole industry is, rather, inspired to help the people in this pandemic that we have experienced all never, as quickly as possible.
“medicine is not can be placed without molecular biology to be successful”
FOCUS Online : The Coronavirus has Biotech and Life Sciences Start-ups in the Public eye. You invest with Dievini in 2005 in companies in the industry. How has the scene changed since then?
Planks : At the global level, very dynamic. We have always ursächlicheres understanding of diseases, because we understand the molecular basis of diseases is always better. You can say that The molecular biology is to medicine what mathematics is to physics: you can’t have one without the other successfully.
FOCUS Online How it looks in Germany?
Planks : Well, Yes, Biotech is perhaps the riskiest asset class of all: The development of a drug costs on average $ 2.5 billion, will take about 10 years and fails in 85 percent of all cases.
A normal investor can’t cope with this risk. Foreign capital is not to go so well, so the entire industry is almost exclusively financed through equity capital, so-called venture capital. Here is the USA after are clearly a pioneer – Europe in General and Germany in Particular, are lagging behind.
All the developments on the stock exchanges: News-Ticker to the Corona Crash
“does not see high-innovation as an opportunity”
FOCUS Online Why do we have such deficits?
Planks I see two reasons for this. We do not have enough available venture capital, because there are structural hurdles: losses in one Investment can be offset against gains from another Investment. The foreign venture capitalists from Germany keeps: We simply have too little money and the competition for highly innovative companies in our country.
on The other it is problematic, as Germany thinks. We do not see high-innovation as an opportunity and a social obligation in order to secure the future of our next generations. Supposedly secure employees ‘ jobs are for many people more attractive. The image of the entrepreneur and innovative enterprises are in Germany compared to the USA and Asia, just not very good. This takes us opportunities.
“Dietmar Hopp is a 100 per cent of its activities”
FOCUS Online : the topic of capital. Dietmar Hopp, co-founded Dievini, it is capital that flows into the investments. The “Manager Magazin” quoted from a speech by him with these words: “If I had known that it would cost me more than a billion euros, to be standing here today, I would not have made it.”
Planks : I remember that time very well. He spoke of investments, of cost. Dietmar Hopp is a 100% to its activities and undertakings. What he wanted to say something else: No one knew at the time that it will take longer and more investment requires adoption of the 2005. But that’s how it is and is also not uncommon in this industry. Because its SAP-participation has developed well, he could invest even more.
He was, and always remained optimistic, and did not irritate, as some of our investments have achieved your goals. In addition, there are many examples of very successful biotechnology companies that have not made it in the first attempt, it is precisely because the causal Understanding of a disease and a drug is complex and time needed.
We will invest for 15 years, and have three motivations: first, we want to earn money. Secondly, we want to make a contribution, to make Germany once again a genuine innovation location. Germany was once the leader of innovation, today we have relocated to us to Manage. With the investments that we make, we create technologies, systems, structures and, above all, jobs for the future.
And then there is the third, and perhaps most important reason: Dietmar Hopp is committed to the health of the very. We invest in new drugs and forms of treatment, there is not so far, to help patients with the most severe diseases worldwide. This is risky, but otherwise it is not.
“It takes political vision”
FOCUS Online : What needs to happen so that Germany and Europe can catch up to the USA?
Planks : Because biotechnology is capital intensive, this can only be achieved if more of institutional private equity investors invest more money. These include structural incentives need to be created, not only for investment in biotechnology, but in all highly innovative technologies and jobs to ensure our competitiveness and future prosperity. It takes the political and social vision, which is that systemically important branches arise at the location and located must be. Biotech is one of them.
structural measures must, however, also relate to education and training. Artificial intelligence will not replace Doctors. But Doctors who do not understand artificial intelligence and usefulness, will be replaced by Doctors who can. But this is not taught in the medical Curriculum. Just as there will be no non-molecular medicine more. This is also the reason why biotechnology is so important and so promising for the future: The feed-molecular knowledge in diagnosis, therapy and drug development has, figuratively speaking, only just begun. And also here applies: the only way is with Scientific Computing systems. Artificial intelligence is a part of aspect.
As commented on the FOCUS Online readers of this post:
“Thank you for your effort to save hundreds of thousands of people, I hope you have success and make it soon. Thank you, thank you!”
“There will always be different strategies of how Innovation is funded. It is always a Weighing up of different issues. There will always be people who are willing to spend money for uncertain projects. But you need to hold been used to earn this money. People who earn money as capitalism in a negative sense, to understand, also can not expect that the Initiative of the Individual takes place. You should not then whine if Innovation fails to materialize.”
see also: consequences of the Corona crash for the money and Job – Germany’s biggest advice: “Who can help me, if I can’t pay the electric bill?” In the FOCUS Online In the Where is Coronavirus? Real-time map showing the spread of the disease, FOCUS Online/Wochit lung disease Covid-19: Where is Coronavirus? Real-time map showing the spread of the disease
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