How does a 150-year-old global life sciences company stay up-to-speed with the latest digital innovations?
For Bayer, the answer has been to create an intermediary team — a special envoy that can infiltrate the tech and startup world. In the United States, it’s run by Dirk Schapeler, Bayer’s VP of digital innovation for the U.S. and an upcoming panelist at MedCity INVEST in Chicago.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Via phone, Schapeler discussed how his team finds the right technology and people to meet both recognized and unrecognized needs within Bayer’s operations. It’s not just research and development; everything from manufacturing to supply chain logistics, to sales and marketing can all benefit from an injection of innovation, he said.
“There is now a lot of new technologies coming aboard like sensors, like machine learning technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, that can be used in all kinds of areas that are relevant to driving the business,” Schapeler explained.
Attend MedCity INVEST to hear from healthcare innovators like Dirk Schapeler and other experts. Use promo code MCNPOST to save $50. Register now .
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
To engage with the latest technologies, Schapeler and Bayer founded the LifeScience iHub in 2015. From a rented shared space in Mountain View, California, a team of around a dozen industry specialists can now plug into the local innovation ecosystem to find, assess, and partner with promising companies.
Unlike typical investors, the iHub team has to evaluate the potential of a new technology as well as its potential to successfully integrate into Bayer and its three core areas of focus; pharmaceuticals, consumer health (over-the-counter medicines) and crop science.
According to Schapeler, the magic ingredient is the people — but he doesn’t take them at face value. Instead, he and his team draw on their connections throughout Silicon Valley to assess who has been willing to work with them and what funding and talent they’ve managed to attract.
For that reason, the digital health companies need to be sufficiently mature. The agreements, however, are flexible, depending on the technology and how well it fits with Bayer.
“We’re still a company that by-and-large depends on selling their drugs,” he noted. “But we are looking a lot towards, ‘how can we provide healthcare to patients? Not only through pills but also through other means.”
That could be through diagnostics that can be used within the home, or through services that help mine and compile useful data on diseases, patient behavior, or their response to an investigational therapy.
It’s a fast-paced industry, which Bayer is helping to propel forward. Earlier this year, the German pharma giant announced a new Grants4Apps accelerator program to bring promising startups under its wing, part of a global web of startup initiatives.
“I just like to see that healthcare is really going towards something that is available to all. And I’m not only talking about the U.S., I’m also talking about on a global level,” Schapeler said. “I’ve just come back from China. The fact that even in the tiniest village now people have access to mobile phones and often times to smartphones. And that you can use those devices in order to at least provide some basic medical services to people. I find this super exciting. Having technology help to provide healthcare for all in the future, that’s something that gets me excited and up and motivated every day,” he said.
Schapeler will participate in a breakout panel at MedCity INVEST on May 17, in Chicago. Titled ‘Beyond the pill and product, whither now?’ the speakers will discuss the growing need for technologies and services that add value to – and prove the value of – prescription drugs and devices.
Photo: NicoElNino, Getty Images
