Building successful partnerships in Animal Health
Perspectives on collaboration and innovation from Christoph Vetten, Head of Transactions Animal Health.
As a senior business leader with many years of experience in Animal Health, Christoph Vetten has spent much of his career witnessing the impact of innovation from many different angles. He began his career in mergers and acquisitions and business development, before moving to senior commercial roles in Europe and Asia. Recently appointed Head of Transactions Animal Health, Christoph shares his perspectives on building successful partnerships and how this contributes to innovation.
What does partnering mean to you and how important is it in supporting our innovation ambition in animal health?
We are living in a complex world and partnering is essential for staying relevant towards vets, farmers and pet owners by delivering the innovation that all these customers rely on to keep their animals – and society as a whole - healthy. At Boehringer Ingelheim, 8 out of our 10 top-selling products in animal health are anchored in external collaboration. These important partnerships are, and will continue to be, a cornerstone of our innovation strategy.
Boehringer Ingelheim is one of only a few companies in animal health that also has deep expertise in human pharma. What are the benefits of this and why is it important to potential partners?
There are some important benefits in having access to a strong human pharma infrastructure. For example, we have a world-leading biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing business. As a pioneer in biologics with more than 35 years’ experience, the team can provide important insights regarding questions around process development or manufacturing of biological drug candidates. This is especially important given the current trend towards monoclonal antibody therapeutics, particularly for chronic disease in pets, in an ecosystem where suitable manufacturing capabilities are scarce. We also have a substantial global research and development organization across both human and animal health where we look to explore the potential for human science in animal health and translate shared knowledge into innovative healthcare solutions for animals.
How can collaborations with human pharma companies help drive innovation in animal health?
I’m excited to be part of an animal health industry that is healthily growing but relatively small in comparison to human pharma. We know there is a significant amount of biology and many disease mechanisms that are shared across humans and animals and it’s important that we leverage this as much as possible in our efforts to tackle unmet needs. When we look at important innovations entering the animal health world, we can find many examples where human pharma has led the way, and animal health has then had the opportunity to translate these findings into transformative treatments for animals. In fact, one of our most recent innovations – a breakthrough prescription medicine to improve glycaemic control in cats with diabetes mellitus – is the result of a collaboration with our own human pharma colleagues.
Why should a company choose to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim?
We have a long tradition of partnering in animal health with more than 250 collaborations ongoing. Many of these partnerships are strategic collaborations which cover multiple projects and have been in place for many years. Aside from the many capabilities we can offer partners, including our deep scientific excellence, manufacturing capabilities and commercial expertise, I believe it is our partnering approach that sets us apart.
As an independent, family-owned company, we have the privilege of taking a longer-term view – both in relation to our science and our partners. We know that science, particularly early science, can take a long time to come to fruition, and we want our partners to know that we will be there with them while we work together to advance their science into breakthrough treatments.
In your role as Head of Transactions, what do you consider to be the most important factors for successful partnerships and how would you describe the Boehringer Ingelheim approach to deal-making?
For us, a partnership is not usually a one-off transaction but a relationship that will last for many years. I believe there are three key factors that need to come together for this to happen:
- The relationship needs to be grounded in great science. We’re always excited to see the discovery of a new mode of action or a molecule to modify a disease. But there are other areas such as lead optimization, formulation, development, global registration, or commercialization, where the partner may lack the internal capabilities or financial resources to advance the project all the way through to market. These are situations where we can help.
- The partnership needs to make financial sense for both parties. We’re flexible when it comes to deal-making and are open to many different types of relationships. Most importantly, we want to create a deal that is right for the project and right for the partner. That’s the foundation for a trusting, truly collaborative relationship.
- We need to share similar values and culture. Our goal is to create partnerships that last. Relationships where our scientists are working side-by-side with our partners, tackling scientific challenges together and appreciating the expertise and diversity of thought that each party brings.
What message would you like to give to potential partners about partnering with Boehringer Ingelheim?
I’m excited to be leading the Transactions team at Boehringer Ingelheim and look forward to connecting current and future partners with our talented team of scientists. Our goal is to help translate our partners’ projects into the next generation of breakthroughs that will improve the health and wellbeing of animals. We are continuing our focus on partnerships across the value chain from exploratory research, through to distribution agreements, recognizing the need to work together to deliver near-term solutions to tackle today’s unmet needs, as well as longer-term projects that address future challenges. Our partnering priorities reflect this and include cardiometabolic diseases, immunology and inflammation, oncology, oral health, and infectious diseases.
I’ll be attending many of the major partnering events this year, so come along and say hello. You can find all the events the team will be attending on our website. I look forward to seeing you!
How to partner with us
Come and meet us at one of these upcoming events: Where to meet us
Submit your partnering proposal by visiting our Animal Health Partnering Portal
Links
Meet our Animal Health Partnering Team
