Demand for innovative treatment options increasing, study says

The demand for new and innovative treatment options for diseases like cancer and diabetes has been continuously increasing in the past years, a study by multinational firm Bayer showed.

“There is a high demand for new treatment options and solutions in these areas of high medical need. We are investing substantially in increasing our innovation capability to develop new and better medicines to help our population age with a high quality of life and keep health systems sustainable,” said Dr. Chuan Kit Foo, head of Medical Affairs of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division in Asia Pacific.

“Partnership is core to our innovation strategy at Bayer. We believe in driving innovation across the value chain by embracing different forms of collaboration, from classical research alliances to new models of open innovation which foster engagement and entrepreneurship of the wider community,” he added.

The study noted that individuals aged 60 years and above will be doubled from 12 to 24 percent by 2050 in Asia Pacific, which accounts for more than half of the world’s population.

Bayer, which specializes in health care and agriculture, said the latest development was marked by a sharp rise in sales of its innovative products, Rivaroxaban and Aflibercept.

Rivaroxaban, a non-vitamin K-dependent oral anticoagulant, has been prescribed to 26 million patients worldwide and more than 3 million patients in Asia Pacific for the management of blood clots in seven distinct indications across the venous and arterial thromboembolic space.

Aflibercept, meanwhile, is the Anti-VEGF eye injection for the treatment of several retinal disorders in five distinct indications including wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema (DME).

In its study last year, Bayer said there is a low stroke and bleeding rates of Rivaroxaban for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or irregular heartbeat. It has been projected that around 31 million patients will be suffering from AF by 2040 in Asia Pacific, it added.

In a separate study, Bayer said Aflibercept monotherapy has been found effective in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), a subtype of wAMD highly prevalent in Asia.

Claus Zieler, Senior Vice President & Head of Commercial Operations of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Division in Asia Pacific, said: “Our innovations focus on solutions that solve major healthcare challenges of our time, helping to improve patients’ quality of life.”

Last year, Bayer has expanded its collaboration with the academe and medical institutions in Singapore with the launch of Grant4Apps, a web-based crowdsourcing initiative that provides financial support to developers and startups for their health-tech ideas that contribute to improving health outcomes or pharmaceutical processes.

Bayer said Grant4Apps was designed to “call for innovative health tech solutions across Asia / Pacific to help the elderly with chronic diseases overcome the barriers of medication adherence.”

“Through these programs, we aim to identify the best possible solutions to help patients and society tackle their major health challenges,” Dr. Foo added. YG/JE