Dr. Lutz Hilbrich: Committed to Make Critical Healthcare Easily Accessible and Affordable
Top 10 Influential Leaders in Biotechnology 2021
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Dr. Lutz Hilbrich has
been committed to healthcare for more than 25 years. He believes that
healthcare is neither a privilege nor an entitlement, but it is a human right.
And as a doctor and a CEO of ProBioGen AG and MiGenTra GmbH, he is making a
hands-on contribution to finding solutions that affect the lives of millions of
people.
Berlin-headquartered
ProBioGen is an internationally operating biotech company. It specializes in
the development and manufacture of biopharmaceutical active ingredients and
vaccines. At the company’s two locations in Berlin, more than 235 employees
work to create new therapies in medicine. Their creative and meticulous work
results in groundbreaking global innovations.
“We started out as a
production partner for diagnostic antibodies with just four people,” Dr.
Hilbrich says. “Today, we are a renowned Contract Development & Manufacturing
Organization (CDMO) and technology provider.” The company also performs cell
line engineering, process development, and GMP manufacturing of
biopharmaceuticals for clients in biotech and pharma.
Moreover, the company
offers proprietary innovative technologies for optimized biopharmaceutical
manufacturing and analysis, Dr. Hilbrich adds. In addition, it also provides
process development services and manufacturing technologies for viral
vaccines.
“Since our foundation
in 1994, we have been experiencing steady growth – not just with regard to our
permanent capacity increases, but also far more as a result of our focus on
diversifying our business segments,” Dr. Hilbrich mentions.
And, in May of 2021,
MiGenTra was incorporated as a subsidiary of ProBioGen. Dr. Hilbrich played a
key role in the creation and incorporation of this subsidiary, which is also headquartered
in Berlin.
MiGenTra Aims to
Offer Affordable Medicine
Dr. Hilbrich explains that
MiGenTra is a healthcare-transforming medicine company, with access to a
state-of-the-art site in Cairo, where the principal manufacturing plant will be
located. It aims to enhance the accessibility to critical healthcare by
offering medicines at affordable prices in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa
(MEA). Dr. Hilbrich believes that it will also simultaneously strengthen regional
and local manufacturing capacities.
“The formation of
MiGenTra is our current best-case example and part of our growth strategy,” Dr.
Hilbrich elaborates. And their common goal with the subsidiary is to manage
challenges to providing affordable medicines for Africa.
The company will respond to urgent unmet medical needs and support efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Culture of Integrity and Innovation
A culture of integrity
and innovation is at the heart of the company culture. “A sound corporate
culture is a basis for innovation, and our employees are our most important
asset, Dr. Hilbrich underlines. In order to facilitate integrity, they offer
their employees psychological safety and respectful treatment. They are also
always willing to listen to their ideas and views and make communication a cornerstone
of their business.
“We always strive for
application-oriented innovation. It’s about doing the right thing, not making
claims that can’t be upheld,” Dr. Hilbrich says. “Our customers trust us and
can rely on us. Without integrity, there is no trust.”
Focus is Only on
Customers
Customers are the
focus of everything that ProBioGen and its subsidiary do. And they have
received ample recognition because of their ability to offer them suitable
solutions or become part of their teams during projects.
In addition, compared
to other competitors, Dr. Hilbrich tells us that they emphasized a diversified
approach from very early on and have positioned themselves broadly in terms of
technology. “From the beginning, we were not only working with proteins but
also in the viral vector field,” he points out. “As a result we are not
desperately attempting to add viral manufacturing technologies, we are rather
continuing to build on existing experience and technologies.”
And, it is because of
the customer-oriented developments, the company has always been very much in
tune with the market and have been able to establish a very good international
reputation. “The versatility of our solution approaches and our proprietary
technology platforms enable us to offer excellent services as well as license
out technologies on a standalone basis. The ongoing expansion of this appeal is
our daily business,” Dr. Hilbrich informs us.
An Inspirational
CEO’s Routine
Dr. Hilbrich joined
ProBioGen in June of 2020. “I did not found nor was I part of the
ProBioGen foundation process,” he says. “When I joined, ProBioGen had already
celebrated their 25th anniversary.”
As the CEO of the
company and its subsidiary, Dr. Hilbrich engages with his team as well as the
extended team as much as possible. He reaches his office at 6 a.m. “I meet the
first colleague on my management team as early as 6.30 a.m. – he is also an
early riser,” Dr. Hilbrich laughs.
With two companies, he
currently has too many direct reports. “However, I think this comes with the
territory and will change once MiGenTra is up and running smoothly,” Dr.
Hilbrich adds.
Every Monday, he has a
two-hour slot, from 8 to 10 a.m. During that time, anyone from the company can
meet Dr. Hilbrich and provide their insight and feedback, ask for advice, or
simply come chat. “Unfortunately, this two-hour approach to staying connected
throughout the organization and listening to employees is minimal,” he says.
Even though he has an
open-door policy, Dr. Hilbrich admits that during his almost 19-month tenure at
ProBioGen, this has become more and more challenging as his door is more often
closed or he is offsite. It is because he is involved in several roundtables,
as he wants to build a network. Also, he frequently travels to Cairo where
ProBioGen’s parent company, Minapharm, is located.
Focused on
Overcoming Inequalities
Dr. Hilbrich is a
physician by training in the fields of psychotherapy and cardiology. After he
left academia and direct patient care, he joined Boehringer Ingelheim in
Clinical Research.
And, as he was always interested
in marketing and commercialization, he decided to pursue an EMBA from the Stern
Business School of New York University when he was sent to the U.S. to lead the
General Medicine Department. “Dual education followed me throughout my
professional life, and I can only recommend this: the holistic approach of
looking at things bears a competitive advantage,” Dr. Hilbrich ensures.
Since the last decade,
he has focused on overcoming inequalities in healthcare, especially in the
areas of biosimilars; and now also in vaccines and cell and gene therapies.
Dr. Hilbrich has lived
and worked in Germany, the U.S., and China, which has allowed him to gain broad
experience across several continents. “With MiGenTra, now one more ‘very’ underserved
continent gets into the focus, and we are going to make a difference,” he
claims.
People are Central
to Success
Dr. Hilbrich points
out that success is not a one-person show, and it is achievable by focusing on the
people. They are the basis of success. “If we as a company create an
environment that values happiness at work and home, we foster a culture that
emphasizes the biggest asset: my colleagues across the two organizations I am
leading,” Dr. Hilbrich says.
“And happiness is
neither an empty word nor a platitude”, he continues, adding that it is the
foundation for higher productivity. “I lived this throughout my whole life: as
a student, as a doctor, as a scientist, and now as CEO,” Dr. Hilbrich
adds.
Passion and
Decisiveness Part of My DNA
Dr. Hilbrich is known
for his passion and decisiveness. They are the character traits he has in his
DNA, he tells us. “This was not always appreciated. But, encountering different
views, standpoints, and decision-making processes matured my leadership
skills.”
Like other
inspirational leaders, Dr. Hilbrich, too, has encountered roadblocks throughout
his career. He has endured setbacks and stumbled, but he has always got back up
again. It is because he knows what he wants: it is to “make a difference”. “With
this goal in mind, you become stronger and more disruptive in my field, which
is good,” Dr. Hilbrich claims.
Positioned to
Develop Intelligent Solutions
Dr. Hilbrich points
out that their services and technologies enable them to operate at the
intersection of research and development and ensure product ideas become
reality.
Of course, it is
difficult to predict what developments and innovations will emerge in this
highly dynamic field, Dr. Hilbrich explains. “However, with our expert team of
scientists, biotechnologists, and engineers, we are ideally positioned to
continue developing intelligent solutions, for example in production
technologies for cell and gene therapy.”
And beyond this, it is
not only a matter of constantly developing new products but also of providing
global access to newly developed biological assets, according to Dr. Hilbrich.
“The pandemic has
incontrovertibly shown that not all people have equal access to vital
medicines. And everyone in the world is talking about this,” Dr. Hilbrich emphasizes.
“With our subsidiary MiGenTra, our goal is to change this substantially.
Changing Landscape
of Biotechnology
Dr. Hilbrich points
out that the biotechnology landscape is constantly changing. And the advances
in biotechnology and accelerating digital transformation and artificial
intelligence will most probably lead to innovation.
“I recently read an
article on the trends shaping the biotechnology industry in the future. My
thoughts are not unique or disruptive,” Dr. Hilbrich says. “There is a common
understanding that we are facing a decade of huge opportunities and changes.”
He elucidates it
further by giving three examples: Cell Gene Therapy, Telehealth, and Digital
Transformation. He points out that the Cell and Gene Therapy is ushering in personalized
medicine that actually can cure, while telehealth has become a solution for
areas and regions that do not have the advantage of stable healthcare
infrastructure yet.
Convenience is also one of the benefits of telehealth, as it eliminates the need to visit the doctor’s office in urbanized areas. And digital transformation,” Dr. Hilbrich says, “is strongly connected to telehealth. It offers the benefit of remote and online assessment, diagnosis, and even treatment and therapy for patients around the globe.”
Fan of Work and
Personal Life Harmonization
Dr. Hilbrich is not a
fan of making a distinction between work and personal life. He believes that they
are intertwined. “If I am happy at home, I will be happy at work,” he says. “And
vice-versa.”
He does not like to
leave his personality (personal life) and his role as CEO at their respective
doors. “That is me,” Dr. Hilbrich underlines. “And my family knows that I might
choose to write an email or read the news instead of picking up a book in my
free time. That is just me, and I do not expect this from anyone I work with.”
He firmly believes
that it is up to him to demonstrate to people how he is and how he wants to
remain happy. “And this kind of an environment allows everyone to strive,”
Dr. Hilbrich says.
He is able to balance
his work and personal life by being passionate, authentic, and decisive in
whatever he does. It may be the pursuit of sporting activities, reading a book,
leading a company, or cooking dinner for his family and friends.
ProBioGen’s Future
is Bright
Dr. Hilbrich believes
that the future for ProBioGen is bright. The company is responding to its
quickly expanding customer base by extending its capacities as well as through
diversification. “Our contribution to breakthrough therapies is helping to
address unmet medical needs,” Dr. Hilbrich explains.
“With our subsidiary,
MiGenTra, we are developing biosimilars, vaccines, and cell and gene therapies
for Egypt, the MENA region, and the African continent,” he adds. “This
continent is especially overlooked and underserved, and our vision and mission
are fully aligned with what the WHO and IFC want to achieve.”
“I am optimistic for
the future, and all of this makes me extremely humble, proud, and also happy,”
Dr. Hilbrich concludes.