CEO Bill Anderson would not be drawn on whether the drug, currently approved for chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes, will hit a previous forecast of €3bn peak sales, but expansion into heart failure may make that figure look conservative.

The German major is kicking off Phase II trials for a cell therapy and a gene therapy that could be gamechangers for the progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 10 million people worldwide.

There is a lot of structural change going on at the German major but it is learning from the way its wholly owned subsidiaries such as AskBio and BlueRock are run.

Advances in synthetic biology are moving biopharma closer to a world where treatments can be tailored while remaining cost-effective.