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Bayer holds "Breakthrough Innovation Forum" to realize breakthrough innovation in the field of life sciences

Company News > Bayer holds "Breakthrough Innovation Forum" to realize breakthrough innovation in the field of life sciences

On April 1, 2022, Bayer hosted the first Breakthrough Innovation Forum, which focused on long-term opportunities in healthcare and agricultural technologies through emerging technologies. Following the recent announcement of the short and medium term r&d pipeline by Bayer's prescription drug and crop Sciences division, the forum further shared breakthroughs in bayer's life sciences innovations. Renowned experts, Bayer executives and ceos of companies in bayer's Leap Initiative demonstrated how the coming wave of innovation will bring new opportunities for the next generation of healthcare and for delivering more sustainable and less resource-intensive agricultural solutions. At the event, Bayer also announced that it will increase its investment in bayer's "Project Leap" impact investing arm by 1.3 billion euros by the end of 2024.

"We are at the dawn of a new era of innovation in the life sciences," said Werner Baumann, chairman of bayer's management board. "From providing answers to incurable diseases, to providing people with disease-prevention tools to live healthier, better and longer lives, to increasing agricultural output with significantly lower inputs and respecting the boundaries of the planet, humanity's ability to meet some of its greatest challenges is rapidly improving, Especially thanks to the accelerated convergence and promotion of biology, chemistry, advanced computing, data analysis and artificial intelligence. As a leader in health and nutrition, Bayer is stepping up its efforts to become an enabler of this new era of innovation. Our accelerated investment in partners and internal innovation is key to achieving this goal."

Bayer's Leap Project is designed to address the greatest challenges facing humanity

The Bayer Leap Initiative is dedicated to addressing ten of humanity's greatest challenges through a unique approach, such as curing cancer or reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment. "Over the past seven years, we have invested more than 1.3 billion euros in a portfolio covering more than 50 companies -- all aimed at changing the core paradigm in health and agriculture," said Jurgen Eckhardt, head of Bayer's Leap Initiative. "As Bayer increases its investment in Project Leap in the coming years, we will be able to continue on a successful path of funding the brightest innovators and helping them research solutions that truly make a difference for people and the planet." Project Leap has invested in a number of joint ventures -- such as JoynBio, Unfold and the former portfolio company BlueRock Therapeutics (now wholly owned by Bayer) -- and has led several successful investment rounds. Another example is Recursion, an AI company focused on developing new drugs to treat pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic diseases, which went public in April 2021. Bayer's Breakthrough Innovation Forum invited the ceos of Project Leap portfolio companies Cellino, Andes and Ukko to share their mission and technical insights in the healthcare and agri-tech sectors.

To achieve breakthrough innovation in medical and health care and agricultural science and technology

The event also exemplifies bayer's specific work to change the paradigm of life sciences.

In health care, this current era of innovation is expected to significantly enrich the technology toolbox, enabling scientists around the world to address highly unmet medical needs. "The convergence of biology, chemistry and data is fundamentally changing our understanding of health, disease and treatment. Breakthrough innovations driven by new technologies allow us not only to treat the symptoms, but also to potentially halt or reverse disease progression, promising truly transformative treatment options for patients, "said Stefan Oelrich, member of bayer's Group management Board and Global President of Bayer's prescription drugs division. Bayer is investing heavily in biomedical innovation, particularly in cell and gene therapy. Over the past three years, Bayer has invested more than 2.5 billion euros to build its cell and gene therapy platform, including the acquisitions of BlueRock Therapeutics and Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio). In addition, Bayer is leveraging its strategic partnership with Atara Biotherapeutics and Mammoth Biosciences to promote innovation. Currently, bayer's innovative product line has begun to benefit from strong, middle in preclinical and clinical cell and gene therapy product portfolio, including eight projects in different stages of clinical development, covering the unmet medical needs treatment, such as Parkinson's disease, Pompeii disease leading projects and congestive heart failure. Bayer has also significantly increased its drug discovery capabilities with the acquisition of Vividion Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that uses novel discovery technologies to unlock high-value, traditionally unproven targets. Bayer also holds a large stake in Care/of, a personalized nutrition company, and has a potential cooperation in the field of healthy aging, helping Bayer tap the potential of precision health in the field of health consumer goods.

In agricultural sciences, Bayer is harnessing the power of emerging technologies to build sustainable and resilient food systems, helping growers around the world increase food production with fewer resources, while reducing carbon emissions and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. "Bayer's annual r&d investment of €2bn in the Crop Sciences division is unmatched in the industry, creating a strong innovation pipeline across seed and trait technologies, crop protection and digital solutions with peak sales of €30bn over the next 20 years," Said Rodrigo Santos, member of the management Board of Bayer AG and President of Bayer's Crop Science Division. Based on RNAi (RNA interference) technology, Bayer recently launched the first new biotechnological control trait for maize root-worm, enabling farmers to control an infestation that causes an estimated 1 billion euros of crop damage each year, while reducing the need for crop protection. Bayer also plans to introduce a new dwarf corn variety to the market in 2023. As part of Bayer's Smart Corn system, the corn variety can withstand extreme conditions brought about by climate change, reducing the risk of crop loss and contributing to food security. With its unparalleled digital agriculture platform, Bayer is a leading force in agricultural carbon reduction. The Bayer Carbon Initiative encourages farmers to adopt climate-smart measures, such as no-till or cover crops. In addition, Bayer is using next-generation technologies to quantify and track the impact of these practices, highlighting bayer's pioneering role and unique position in advancing the digital capabilities of the food, feed, fuel and fiber value chains.

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Bayer holds "Breakthrough Innovation Forum" to realize breakthrough innovation in the field of life sciences

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