With chronic heart diseases and cancers among the leading causes of death in the Asia Pacific, German pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer is striving to address the growing medical needs of patients across the region.
As Asia Pacific economies boom in recent years, deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases have significantly increased, aggravated by consumers’ increasingly sedentary lifestyles and rapidly changing eating habits.
Recognizing the urgency of this chronic disease epidemic, Bayer has stepped up investments in research and development in Singapore, its regional hub for the past 50 years.
Strengthening the Heart
Last year, Bayer announced a five-year collaboration with the National Heart Centre Singapore to set up a research center to better understand the underlying causes of cardiovascular diseases, the region’s leading cause of deaths. Though preventive care and early screening are crucial to achieve better patient outcomes, patients typically delay consultation with the doctor until it’s too late.
Cases of heart failure—which affects more than 60 million people worldwide¹—is projected to increase drastically in the next decade.² A worsening heart condition sparks a downward health spiral and repeated hospitalizations, with 56% of patients returning to the hospital within 30 days. Each subsequent hospitalization raises the mortality rate, with one in five patients dying within two years of a worsening heart failure event.³
Among other innovations to lower the death rate from heart diseases, Bayer has introduced a new drug therapy that promotes smooth muscle relaxation and vasodilation, and reduces the likelihood of re-hospitalization for heart failure patients.⁴
