Biofrontera

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Biofrontera AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN DE0006046113
founding 1997
Seat Leverkusen , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management
  • Hermann Lübbert, CEO
  • Thomas Schaffer, CFO
  • Christoph Dünwald, Marketing and Sales Director
Number of employees 174 (2019)
sales 31 million euros (2019)
Branch biotechnology
Website www.biofrontera.com
As of December 31, 2019

The Biofrontera AG is a dermatological specialty pharmaceutical company based in Leverkusen .

Company description

The biopharmaceutical company specializes in the development of dermatological drugs and medical cosmetics. Biofrontera is the only founder-run German pharmaceutical company to date that has received centralized European and US approval for a drug it has developed itself. The products currently available on the market are used to treat skin diseases and for regenerative care of damaged skin. The most important product is Ameluz®, a prescription drug for the treatment of pale skin cancer and its precursors (actinic keratoses). Ameluz® has been available in Germany since February 2012 and currently in eleven other EU countries, in Switzerland and in Israel. With the PDT red light lamp BF-RhodoLED® for photodynamic therapy ( PDT ), Biofrontera was also able to bring a medical product to approval in 2012. In May 2016, the American approval authority FDA granted Biofrontera the approval for the unrestricted marketing of Ameluz® in combination with the BF-RhodoLED® in the USA. In September 2016, the European Commission granted the approval extension for Ameluz® to include field cancerization. In January 2017, the approval of Ameluz® for the treatment of basal cell carcinomas in the EU followed . In addition, since 2009 Biofrontera has been marketing the Belixos® dermocosmetic series, a special care product with plant-based ingredients based on biocolloids for damaged or diseased skin. One focus of the company's activities is the expansion of international sales activities, with the American market being the focus of sales activities since October 2016. For marketing outside Germany, Biofrontera is setting up its own sales structures, for example in Spain and the USA, or concluding agreements with suitable partners in the respective countries. The long-term focus of corporate development is on expanding the indications for existing products, as well as developing new products and selling them in selected European countries.

history

The company was founded in 1997 by today's CEO Hermann Lübbert. In October 2006, the company's shares were listed on the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange, and since 2013 the Biofrontera shares have also been admitted to the regulated market of the Deutsche Börse in Frankfurt . Biofrontera AG forms an administrative holding company with five 100% subsidiaries, in Germany Biofrontera Bioscience GmbH, Biofrontera Pharma GmbH, Biofrontera Development GmbH and Biofrontera Neuroscience GmbH. While the first two support ongoing business operations, the latter two serve as financial envelopes for individual clinical development projects.

In Spain, Biofrontera is represented with its own branch, Biofrontera Pharma GmbH surcusal en Espana, through which sales activities in Spain are controlled.

In March 2015, the company founded its own US subsidiary based in Wakefield , Massachusetts . Biofrontera Inc. controls the group's business activities within the USA.

In addition, Biofrontera has various partnerships across Europe for the marketing of Ameluz®:

  • Bipharma BV, Almere, Netherlands (Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg)
  • Desitin Pharma A / S, Denmark (Sweden, Norway and Denmark)
  • Pelpharma Handel GmbH, Vienna, Austria (Austria)
  • Perrigo Israel Agencies Ltd., Israel (Israel)
  • Louis Widmer AG, Schlieren, Schweiz (Switzerland)

In March 2013, Maruho Deutschland GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Maruho Co, LTD, the largest Japanese dermatology company, took a strategic investment in Biofrontera. Since July 2016, Biofrontera and Maruho have been researching new development projects based on Biofrontera's patented nanoemulsion technology.

As part of the investment offensive for Europe, the European Investment Bank granted EIB Biofrontera a loan of up to 20 million euros in May 2017. This capital is intended to support Biofrontera in the implementation of its innovative and competitive strategy.

Products

  • Ameluz® is Biofrontera's first prescription drug. In Ameluz®, the active substance 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is combined with a patent-protected nanoemulsion, which improves skin penetration and increases chemical stability. This drug is approved for the (PDT) of pre-cancerous skin changes ( actinic keratoses ) in the EU and the USA. Since September 2016, Ameluz® has also been used in the EU for field cancerization, i.e. H. the treatment of larger areas of skin interspersed with cancer precursors. Furthermore, since January 2017 the indication has been extended to the treatment of superficial and nodular basal cell carcinomas. With PDT, Ameluz® is applied to the skin. Illumination with a strong red light lamp for 10 to 15 minutes triggers a chemical reaction three hours after application to the skin, which kills the affected skin cells without scarring. A positive side effect of the treatment is a slowly emerging skin rejuvenation effect, through which the skin's appearance is continuously improved for up to 1 year after treatment.
  • The products of the Belixos® series are used as basic care for inflamed, itchy and flaky skin, for example with local itching , neurodermatitis or psoriasis . One product in this series ( Belixos Protect ) is thematically linked to the Ameluz® and, after the treatment, serves as a day care product to protect and regenerate sun-damaged skin.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b key figures. In: biofrontera.com. Retrieved June 14, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Research study Cenkos Securities plc., September 2012
  3. ↑ a b Summary of the EPAR for the public (as of 09/2016)
  4. ↑ a b Biofrontera reports on the results for the 2016 financial year: press release of April 12, 2017, pressetext.com
  5. ↑ a b Ameluz product information (as of 09/2016), ema.europa.eu
  6. ↑ a b c press release of the company from July 13, 2016 pressetext.com
  7. ↑ a b Investment Plan for Europe: EIB grants funding to Biofrontera: Press release of the European Investment Bank eib.org Retrieved on June 26, 2017
  8. ↑ T. Maisch, F. Santarelli, S. Schreml, P. Babilas, RM Szeimies: Fluorescence induction of protoporphyrin IX by a new 5-aminolevulinic acid nanoemulsion used for photodynamic therapy in a full-thickness ex vivo skin model. In: Exp Dermatol. 19 (8), 2010, pp. E302 – e305.
  9. ↑ L. Schmitz, B. Novak, AK Hoeh, H. Luebbert, T. Dirschka: Epidermal penetration and protoporphyrin IX formation of two different 5-aminolevulinic acid formulations in ex vivo human skin. In: Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther. 14 2016, pp. 40–46.