DüsseldorfThe combat against widespread diabetes promises good business opportunities. 286 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes type 2, which is triggered in particular by wrong- nutrition and living habits. And the number of affected people could even double in the next two decades – a market with billion Euro growth opportunities. However, the development and production of new medical products is a cost-intensive process and the global competition is fierce. As a consequence, the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim decided to engage in cooperation with Eli Lilly USA.
Typical reasons for such cooperation initiatives between companies which both are already successful within their markets include especially opportunities of increasing and faster growth. As such Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly are combining their know-how on substances and treatment for diabetes for about a year now. In this context Klaus Wilgenbus, head of global business development, states:” This cooperation enables us, to offer medical products along any stage of progression of the disease.” Like other companies, the two partners face the challenge of increasing growth opportunities within their markets but expansion is very expensive. The development and marketing of new pharmaceutical products involves costs which are several times higher than those of their predecessors.”
Especially successful companies have engaged in cooperative growth initiatives at an early stage” says Dr. Alexander Tarlatt from the consulting company Santiago Advisors. Additionally, a study from the icgrowth institute Wiesbaden/Germany underlines the strategic importance of such engagements. According to their studies, cooperation initiatives will be seen equally important for strategic growth targets in the next couple of years as for example acquisitions.
Growth cooperation initiatives are also the topic of the recent edition of the Handelsblatt Management-Forum. This forum interviews twelve leading business schools from Asia, Europe and North America on a regular basis regarding recent economic trends and business developments. This forum has been hosted by the consulting company Santiago Advisors in cooperation with Ronny A. Fürst, Professor for innovation management at the European Management School (EMS) in Mainz and director of the icgrowth institute. Interviews from this forum revealed, that recent trends for cooperation can be found within marketing and sales. This trend is confirmed by Professor Dominique Hanssens (UCLA), Professor Bernd Schmitt (Columbia University) and Professor Julian Villanueva (IESE).
