R&D Strategy
At Ferrer, we focus on identifying projects with differential value
We consider innovation an inherent part of our pharmaceutical activities, and we have always upheld our commitment to searching for and developing new treatment alternatives aimed at responding to unmet medical needs in order to create value for patients, doctors, health systems and society at large.
With our R&D activity, Ferrer aims to achieve a portfolio of projects with differential treatment value, balanced in terms of risk and degree of innovation, incremental and disruptive, and centred on the company's two therapeutic areas of focus:
Pulmonary vascular and interstitial diseases
Neurological disorders
The objective of the company's R&D activities is to create value for patients, health systems and society at large by responding to unmet medical needs.
With these shared, aligned strategic objectives, the company's R&D activity is distributed across four units:
R&D Search and Evaluation
R&D Search and Evaluation is the department within the R&D Area that seeks and identifies new innovation projects of external or internal origin that align with Ferrer's R&D strategy. Evaluation is conducted in close collaboration with other departments in cross-functional teams. The Ferrer Open capture platform promotes and facilitates contact with the most innovative players in the ecosystem to attract and, in some cases, co-create treatment solutions with added value that fall within Ferrer's areas of specialisation: pulmonary vascular and interstitial lung diseases and neurological disorders.
R&D Portfolio Management
The R&D Portfolio Management department handles the innovation portfolio and leads projects to create a more sustainable, transparent and efficient R&D. It promotes sustainability by aligning the portfolio with the business strategy and managing the entry of new projects. It promotes efficiency and transparency in the management and leadership of R&D projects through multidisciplinary coordination, teamwork, communication and monitoring of milestones and results. It manages the committee for incorporating new projects and the committee for monitoring projects in the portfolio.
Digital health and technology
This department leads innovation in digital health, the meeting point of technology, health, healthcare and society. Through the "Ferrer 4 Future" programme, we put challenges to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and collaborate with technology-based companies to solve them. In 2020, we focused on solutions for neurological disorders that present with movement abnormalities.
How the Staccato® system works
The Staccato device contains a rapid heating system capable of reaching very high temperatures in as little as 100 milliseconds, so that the unformulated active ingredient, deposited in a thin layer on a stainless steel substrate, is vaporised. When the patient inhales through the Staccato system, the surface of the stainless steel substrate is instantly heated, creating aerosolised drug particles.
The patient inhales these particles, and their size allows them to reach the deepest and most vascularised areas of the lung. This achieves rapid and complete absorption into the bloodstream.
Our projects in development:
The Project FNP 002 in the field of epilepsy has been licensed to UCB.
Clinical Trial ADORE -
Phase 3 Clinical Trial to Investigate the Safety and Efficacy of FNP122 in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
