Friday October 22, 2021
Novartis Germany boss Lang
“There are hidden pandemics”
The corona crisis is changing the pharmaceutical landscape: Small players like Biontech have developed more successful vaccines than the giants in the industry. Novartis Germany boss Thomas Lang talks about new rules of the game in the pharmaceutical market, new alliances and how the fight will continue.
A year and a half after the start of the corona pandemic, the pharmaceutical landscape looks very different than before: In the race behind a vaccine, even small players like Biontech could hold their own – while pharmaceutical giants sometimes bet on the wrong horse. Novartis, the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world in 2020, supported the production of the Covid vaccine by the Tübingen biotech company Curevac, or should actually produce the vaccine. But then this was given up due to insufficient effectiveness.
Nevertheless, Novartis Germany boss Thomas Lang sees the new rules of the game as something positive. “The current situation has opened up a whole range of new opportunities and partnerships,” he says in the podcast “Zero Hour“. An example of this: The first prognoses predicted that the first Covid vaccine would be available in the summer of 2021.” We have all seen that the whole thing will go a long way through a historic effort and the cooperation of many partners in the health system happened faster, “says Lang.
And the fight against the Covid pandemic is not limited to vaccination: There are also “antiviral substances, and substances against the so-called acute phase of the disease, where the aim is to get the excessive inflammation, reactions and immune reactions under control “explains Lang. There is also an intensive collaboration: “There are 260 vaccination programs and over 500 therapeutic projects worldwide,” says the head of Novartis Germany.
This cooperation and effort could also be used against other diseases in the future, such as cancer. And in addition to the “historic task” of the corona pandemic, there are also “hidden pandemics” such as cardiovascular diseases. “Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Europe, ahead of cancer,” says Lang. In Germany, almost every third death can be attributed to it. And since Covid-19 also affects the cardiovascular system, these diseases will become even more important in the next few years. Against this, too, the pharmaceutical companies will have to “form strong alliances”.
Listen in the new episode of “The Zero Hour”:
- What the next medical outbreaks could be
- How the way Novartis employees work has changed in the pandemic
- Whether Lang is allowed to work from Mallorca
You can find all episodes directly at Audio Now, Apple or Spotify or via Google.