“Personalized Medicine is not Feasible without an Intelligent IT Platform!”
Mr. Klein, you founded the company Cytolon which is involved in a field of medicine that is still in its infancy: personalized medicine. In your opinion, what is the market situation and is there potential for growth?
Thomas Klein: It is a fact that currently only every third medication shows the desired effect. Approximately only one third of the patients do benefit from their treatment. Almost one of seven to eight patients feels worse after a therapy. This is an intolerable situation – for patients, doctors and the pharmaceutical industry. The health insurances want changes too because many treatments are being paid for of which the quality is not satisfactory. That is exactly why the concept of personalized medicine is so convincing. In this case treatments are tailored to the specific needs of individual groups of patients. I think that this market which is still in its infancy has a considerable growth potential. The pharmaceutical industry is currently undergoing a paradigm shift, turning away from general medication for all, so-called blockbuster drugs, towards personalized medicine.
What exactly is “Personalized Medicine”? A unique pill for each single patient?
Thomas Klein: The term “Personalized Medicine” does not mean that each single person gets its own pill. It however implies that groups of persons with common features – e.g. genetic features - are pooled so that we can define an individual therapy. Differentiation is made where in the past standardization has taken place. In the future, new drugs will be designed based on know-how about genetic and molecular features. Diseases of individual patients can be better diagnosed thanks to new findings in molecular science and analysed in regard to receptiveness and tolerance of various drugs. Product and patient must be matched perfectly. For this reason we are also member of the German “Wirtschaftsverband der forschenden Pharma-Unternehmen” (VfA, Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies). Cytolon AG is not a traditional software company but rather a partner of the pharmaceutical industry. We are strongly interested in the further development of personalized drugs and we contribute to the work performed in this field.
How can thousands or more of these personalized transactions take place at the same time? This seems to be very complicated. What is done with the analysed data?
Thomas Klein: You are right. It is indeed a challenge to simultaneously perform so many personalized transactions, so-called “matchings”, for a large number of patients. This is only feasible using internet-based matching platforms with intelligent algorithms enabling the treating physician and the pharmaceutical industry to individually match patients and products quickly, at low cost and in large quantities. The complexity of personalized medicine can only be mastered with intelligent IT solutions.
Cytolon’s IT platform CordMatch® is the first product for large-scale matching. Cytolon therefore is the first company worldwide which positions itself in this field. What is your future strategy?
Thomas Klein: Our strategy is absolutely clear and simple: use the platform. Because the future of personalized medicine is only possible with an intelligent internet-based platform. This is where we stand. Our market entry strategy focuses on the first existing market of personalized medicine: the treatment of leukemia patients.
How does CordMatch® exactly work?
Thomas Klein: Cytolon’s first product, the internet-based matching platform CordMatch®, is an interface for physicians, transplantation clinics, donor registries, stem cell banks and participating pharmaceutical companies. CordMatch® is linked to a central database allowing the entry of all relevant features of patients, active substances and donors. In a short time span, data can be scanned and compared to find and select adequate matching partners. The process is similar to those used by search engines. All criteria relevant for the search can be defined. CordMatch® allows physicians for the first time to display the entire matching process and to archive data for aftercare and tracking important data. CordMatch® accompanies and documents the process chain of matching from the entry of search criteria to the ordering of a matching product up to its delivery. The platform also allows worldwide communication among the participants and retrieval of the latest publications and studies.
Does it work already? Has there been a test phase before?
Thomas Klein: Our first platform CordMatch® has already been online in late 2010. CordMatch® was primarily developed for the first existing market of personalized medicine which is the treatment of leukemia patients with allogeneic stem cells. Our goal is to develop a second version of CordMatch® to be used for even larger future markets: treatment of cardiac insufficiency and diabetes, i.e. in the field of regenerative medicine. We want to be the top service provider worldwide in this area – thanks to a two to three year lead in terms of development and experience.
What are the next steps to be taken?
Thomas Klein: First of all, we want to be successful with our first product being offered on the existing market of leukemia treatment. This also implies accreditation of additional transplantation clinics, donor registries and cord blood databases. We expect first earnings in the summer of 2011. Step by step, we will penetrate the markets in Europe and North America. On a selective basis, we invest in important markets such as South America and Asia. In addition, we will cooperate more closely with the pharmaceutical industry which has become more and more aware of “personalized drugs” but is helpless in regard to implementation if not using intelligent IT platforms. In this context we directly invest in drug research as well. This is an essential prerequisite for our strategy to stay focussed on market needs.