Our investment in the Biotech Center of Excellence guides us towards the future of medicine and science, but also helps defining a corporate culture that is increasingly focused on the patient at every stage of the product development cycle.
The evolution of technology
Biotechnology has come a long way in the past forty years. What once started with large peptides and recombinant proteins, such as synthetic human insulin, has truly revolutionized the pharmaceutical environment. Today, biotechnology encompasses a wide range of entities, including monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and synthetic vaccines
The promise of high-molecular substances produced by living organisms has, amongst other things, pushed the door wide open so that previously untreatable disorders became treatable – including several cancers, autoimmune, metabolic and infectious diseases.
Of the 50 new molecular drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2021, 14 were biologics.
Worldwide, over the last 30 years, the development of the biotechnology sector has increased at an annual rate of more than 12%. The volume of business is expected to double by 2030.*
* Biologics Global Market Report 2021
The challenges of biotechnology
Biologics have distinct advantages over small molecules, notably high selectivity and specificity. However, they also come with their challenges. In general, production is expensive and only in rare cases dosing can be done as oral medicines.
Our challenge is to find indications where the best results can be achieved. Chiesi targets specific, chronic conditions across its core areas respiratory, rare diseases, and specialist care and wellbeing areas. All of these areas can benefit significantly from the flexible nature of biologics.
This is why we have decided to accelerate our entry into biologics and diversify our therapeutic platforms.