TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
48 | himss europe | INSIGHTS | vol. 3 number 1 | technology update
BIG
PHARMA+mHEALTH
Dating A Pill Maker
When Bayer launched its
accelerator programme, Grants4Apps,
in Berlin in late summer, two different
worlds came together on a Monday
evening. Pharmaceutical managers
are a conservative bunch. They tend
to be dressed in a dark suit and tie,
they are used to giving orders rather
than listening, and they are usually
surrounded by marketing assistants
in high heels. Most web 2.0 start-up
people, on the other hand, continue to
stick to the stereotypical nerd buzzing
around with computers in the office.
They wear jeans and sweaters, and
they often talk as if they were at a
college party.
Reinhard Franzen, Head of
Bayer Europe and thus one of
the top managers of this German
pharmaceutical giant, tries to draw
comparisons between the pharma
and m Health industries: “We were
a start-up ourselves 151 years ago.
Occasionally, it is time to reinvent
yourself, and this is why we invited
you here.”
COACH YOUR NERD
The Grant4Apps accelerator
programme is a unique effort from
Bayer to get their foot in the door
of the rapidly evolving mHealth
universe. At first sight, it is all about
seed-funding. Bayer has selected –
and will continue to select – start-ups
with promising initial ideas in the
field of innovative, patient-centric
healthcare I T solutions. Each start-up
is given € 50,000 in order to produce a
prototype over a period of three-and-a-half months.
By Philipp Grätzel von Grätz
>> The pharmaceutical giant Bayer has launched an accelerator
programme that brings together mHealth start-ups from all over Europe in
the direct vicinity of its medical laboratories. Bayer is not alone. It remains
to be seen, though, whether the mHealth engagement of Big Pharma will
be more than just marketing.
Source: iStock (Scukrov)
