German Pharma produced 37 new drugs in 2009

'Germany's research-based pharmaceutical companies produced 37 new drugs in 2009 - the highest annual number brought to market since 1997,' says Cornelia Yzer, general manager of the VFA, the association of German research-based pharmaceutical companies. Most of the new drugs combat serious diseases such as cancers, infections, or metabolic, immune and blood diseases. Each drug needed on average 12 years of research and cost $800 million to develop.

The new products have led to a marked improvement in patient care, notably with regard to some forms of cancer and rheumatic fever, says the VFA. Among the five new vaccines is the first one against Japanese encephalitis. Five of the drugs treat rare diseases such as the autoimmune disorder Muckle-Wells Syndrome and the metabolic disease phenylketonuria. A disease is classified as rare when fewer than one in two thousand European Union citizens suffer from it.

Six of the new treatments contain monoclonal antibodies, biotechnologically-produced antibodies, one of which marks an innovative way to destroy certain cancer cells: it combines them with two different immune cells.

Germany's drugmakers also produced 19 new treatments that use tried and tested drugs in new ways. One strong painkiller, for instance, is now available as a nasal spray that kicks in after only a few minutes. A new vaccine based on the varicella virus now offers protection against shingles; such vaccines have hitherto only worked for chicken pox. Drug cocktails with ingredients that previously had to be taken separately are now available against diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.

As for new drugs in 2010, 'we should again exceed the 30 mark', says Ms Yzer. The emphasis is likely to be on cancers, heart and lung problems, along with osteoporosis, infections and gynecological diseases. Treatments for various forms of the heart ailment atrial fibrillation are set to be improved. Two new antibiotics will combat bacteria that have grown resistant to older ones.

Around a quarter of the new drugs will tackle rare diseases such as thrombocytopenia. 'The growing emphasis on improving treatments for rare diseases will endure', says Ms Yzer.

The healthy pace of drug development is unlikely to give overall revenue in the drug market a significant boost, however, as it will be offset by numerous patent expiries, notes Ms Yzer. Last year, turnover in the drug market grew by 5% to 31 billion euros ($44.48 billion). This was due to higher expenditure as the population ages rather than drug prices; the latter are at mid-2007 levels, the VFA points out.