Bayer’s gene therapy juggling act

Big pharma buyers of biotech companies have historically struggled to preserve targets' entrepreneurial culture, and so a trend has emerged of acquired entities being run at arm’s length. This is precisely Bayer’s plan for Askbio, the private group it bought for $2bn last year to cement its gene therapy ambitions.

However, the German group’s efforts here are not confined to Askbio, stresses Wolfram Carius, the recently appointed head of Bayer’s cell and gene therapy division. With an earlier arm’s-length acquisition and two assets that were licensed in, Bayer’s biggest headache might be how to manage such a disparate business.