Peter Albiez, Country Manager Pfizer Germany, on the Pfizer Healthcare Hubs in Berlin and Freiburg
3 min
Pfizer has been an innovator in the healthcare segment for 170 years. 'Innovation is our tradition and future' – as Country Manager Peter Albiez recently said about the Pfizer Healthcare Hub. In a guest article posted in our blog, he now provides exclusive insights into the reasons behind Pfizer's decision to establish the hubs in Berlin and Freiburg.
Peter Albiez on the Pfizer Healthcare Hubs in Berlin and Freiburg:
Innovations have been the driving force behind our success for the past 170 years. At Pfizer, innovation is not only the development of new medicines, but also the continuous exploration of new terrain: We want to try new approaches, learn from others and from our own mistakes, share positive experiences and take responsibility. We are led by the question of how we can sustainably secure long-term growth for Pfizer in Germany. For us, this also means seeking solutions that meaningfully supplement our medicines, offer significant benefits for patients and physicians or refine the production of our pharmaceuticals.
We have established our Pfizer Healthcare Hubs in Berlin and Freiburg as a response to this – a forum that enables us to gather inspiration from external sources and share knowledge to further develop digital ideas and bring them to market maturity. The development of both hubs is extremely positive, and we are already able to offer patients and physicians the first products and solutions. At the same time, the Berlin Hub has inspired other Pfizer sites to follow its example. So much so that there are now innovation hubs in fifteen different countries. An enormous success – also for the German team. In the meantime, the Freiburg Hub has become an integral component of the innovation ecosystem within and far beyond the South Baden region. For example, the hub is an industry partner of the ‘Kreativpark Lokhalle’, Freiburg’s biggest co-working space, and collaborates with the Center for Technology Transfer of the University of Freiburg and the Sustainability Center Freiburg.
I am impressed and fascinated by the enormous bandwidth of the innovations that digitalisation in the medical sector has already generated. This leads me to a decisive question: how can Germany exploit the future potentials digitalisation offers for improving people’s health? How do we find the right way to safeguard legitimate interests of data privacy while inspiring research and development for new medicines by active utilisation of the health data at our disposal? How can we achieve a culture of collaboration between start-ups, health insurers, physicians and businesses that paves the way for the provision of innovative digital medical applications for patients? We must discuss these issues and find answers that enable Germany’s innovative powers to maintain a competitive edge in the improvement of people’s health.
About Peter Albiez
Peter Albiez has been Country Manager of Pfizer Germany since 1 March 2015. After graduating with an MSc in Biology, Peter Albiez started his career at Pfizer in 1996 as a pharmaceutical consultant. He rapidly rose through various positions of increasing responsibility in sales and marketing before being appointed Vice President Sales in 2006. He has been a Board Member of Pfizer Germany since 2009. Peter Albiez is married and has two daughters.