“Italy is a very important country for Merck” pharmaceutical group “active in the country since 1906. We therefore have a long history and a great heritage of which we are very proud, just as we are confident of having a great future in Italy. In fact, we have invested about 227 million in the last five years, for example in the Bari plant, and there are 49 clinical studies conducted in the last five years “. Thus Peter Guenter, member of the Executive board of Merck and CEO of Healthcare, interviewed by Adnkronos Health on the sidelines of his company visit to Italy. “At the moment, as we speak – he reports – we have more than 30 active clinical studies on our innovative products”.
“Obviously we are also very active commercially now with the launch of a couple of very interesting new products. We have been committed for a long time. We have invested heavily in research and development and production in Italy and – therefore – we are working on the long term also in the future” .
From multiple sclerosis to cancer “Merck Healthcare’s strategy is focused on those areas where we already have very strong positions. We can say that the Healthcare division is the largest medium-sized player and therefore we must make sure that we focus on the right priorities and do better what we do best, i.e. in those areas we know best from a scientific point of view, where we know the community. medical and where, even on the commercial front, we know how to launch products “.
Guenter then cites “some examples, starting with Multiple Sclerosis, a field in which Merck pioneered with interferon beta-1a, and we have Cladribine as an oral drug. We are then in an advanced phase of clinical development, with the hope of a launch on the market from 2025, with Evobrutinib, which we hope will be the first of a new class of BTK inhibitors against multiple sclerosis. So – he underlines – this is our leadership position that we will try to strengthen as we go along “.
Another important line concerns some cancers, “for example we have Cetuximab” chimeric IgG monoclonal antibody, “for the treatment of colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer, while we licensed a new product last year. very innovative, now in phase 3 of clinical development, Xevinapant, a very effective molecule in the therapy of head and neck cancer. Another example is Avelumab, our anti-Pdl1 antibody, with which we are now the standard of care in cancer metastatic urothelial. The product is about to be launched in Italy and we hope to bring this innovation to all Italian patients as soon as possible. This – he emphasizes – is the concept of targeted leadership “.
And again: “in addition to the treatments we have available, we have very interesting new pipelines in the pipeline – reports Guenter -: we are working on products for the degradation technology of enzymes with chemical entities, with small molecules. We are also very active in the field of conjugated monoclonals – which are characterized by being combined with a chemotherapy drug or a radioactive isotope or a cytotoxic toxin. The technology – he details – provides a ‘link’ that binds the antibody to the carcinogenic toxins, until the cytotoxic drug can be released on the tumor target, thus obtaining an effective and also well tolerated treatment. We therefore have many interesting opportunities on the way. “
“Merck is a unique company of its kind for having within it, unique case in the world, at the same time a division of Life Sciences, a division ‘Healthcare’ and an ‘Electronics’. And what is important to emphasize is that this diversified strategy is also a risk mitigation strategy. We saw it in the Covid crisis, during which some of our pharmaceutical sectors were hit during the lockdown, while our ‘Life science’ division had favorable opportunities, regarding the contribution made. the production of Covid mRna vaccines “.
“Europe is an extremely important continent for Merck. We are a global company with more than 60,000 people worldwide, but Europe remains very important. To cite a fact: 46% of our workforce is in Europe, we have by far the largest part of the production capacity of the Healthcare division in the Old Continent, and we are active in Europe along the entire value chain “, from research and development from the transformation of raw materials to the final product.
“I think a great lesson learned from the pandemic crisis is that Europe needs a very strong pharmaceutical industry. We have shown an incredible response on vaccines as well as on therapies, and I think European policy makers have increasingly understood that having a strong European-based pharmaceutical industry is critical to our strategic autonomy as a continent in a world that is becoming less and less global and in which more and more regional repercussions are emerging “.
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