The German business newspaper Handelsblatt spoke with Dr. Roman Hipp, Senior Partner at Porsche Consulting, about the economic impact of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a chronic multisystem disease, and the opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry.
“ME/CFS has long been an issue of economic significance and remains a largely untapped field for innovation,” says Hipp. Around 650,000 people in Germany are living with the chronic multisystem disease, and more than half are unable to work. A model-based estimate puts the societal cost of ME/CFS in Germany at around €32.8 billion a year. ME/CFS is therefore not only a medical challenge, but increasingly an economic one as well.
So far, there is no approved treatment that addresses the underlying cause of ME/CFS. Significant hurdles remain for pharmaceutical companies: Patient populations must be clearly identifiable, treatment outcomes must be objectively measurable, and reimbursement for new therapies must be secured. According to Hipp, these conditions are not yet sufficiently met for ME/CFS. At the same time, he sees the potential for rapid progress: “However, once a study is successful in a clearly defined patient subgroup, the situation could change quickly.”
Read the full article of Helena Smolak in Handelsblatt (German only).