TEMPO.CO, Singapore - Bayer, a German multinational company, recorded an 8.6 percent increase from its pharmaceutical division in 2016. “Pharmaceutical is the biggest business for Bayer,” said Claus Zieler, the company’s Head of Commercial Operation in Asia Pacific.
In the last six years, the company’s pharmaceutical sales in Asia Pacific has doubled from €2.6 billion to €4.8 billion, more than a quarter of its global sales.
Zieler asserted that innovation is the key to the company’s growth, citing its oral anticoagulant to prevent stroke and eye medicine to treat wet age-related macular degeneration as the main contributor of their achievement.
In the region, India recorded the highest growth with 22 percent, followed by Vietnam (19 percent), South Korea and Pakistan (10 percent), and Taiwan (9 percent). As for Indonesia, Zieler said that the market growth rate has been declining in the last few years.
“I believe that may be due to the economic environment in Indonesia, but we’re hopeful that it would pick up,” he said.
With the aging population, the company is investing heavily in research and development. Chuan Kit Foo, the Head of Medical Affairs at Bayer’s Pharmaceutical Division in Asia Pacific, said that the company invested € 4.7 billion in R&D, with 60 percent allocated to developing new drugs. The number of ongoing clinical trial in the region has also increased from 21 in 2007 to 50 in 2016.
“There’s a potential to serve the unmet medical need,” said Chuan, adding that the company’s R&D will focus on cancer and cardiovascular disease.
This year, Bayer expects €17 billion from its pharmaceutical division. “We expect the positive development to continue in 2017,” said Zieler.
AMANDA SIDDHARTA
