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Peter Halling believes allergies are having a more significant impact on people’s health and wellbeing than is widely recognized.
“You have kids that are not able to play outside because of pollen allergies. You have adults that can’t go to work because they don’t have a long-term treatment for their allergies,” the President and CEO of Danish pharmaceutical company ALK tells The CEO Magazine.
People think of symptomatics such as antihistamines, nasal spray and eye drops when they think of allergy treatment. ALK treats the cause of allergy with allergy immunotherapy for the long-term so most sufferers don’t need to use symptomatics after a three-year tablet or injection treatment.
“The earlier we treat allergies with allergy immunotherapy, the better, because a lot of conditions develop over time. If treated with allergy immunotherapy, you’ve been given a vaccine to prevent the allergy from developing. Which is why at ALK we see what we’re doing as fundamental. We want to help more people live happier lives,” he says.
ALK is operating in an industry with myriad complexities, which include product research and development, market access and regulatory approvals. This makes the company’s goal of achieving a 10 percent year-on-year revenue growth, a 25 percent profit margin projection and the aim of producing 800 million allergy tablets a year part of an ambitious vision for the company’s future.
“It’s so much more complicated than what a customer would consider when they go to the pharmacist and buy a product,” Halling says. “They may look at a packet of 10 tablets and think, ‘How difficult could this be?’ Well, I’ll tell you, it’s quite difficult.”
Once a solution to a specific allergy is found, clinical trials are essential to ensure a product’s efficacy and safety, and to earn the approval of the authorities and regulators. This is a process that needs to be completed for each market, and then separately for adults and children.
“It takes time and it needs to fit together. So while it’s difficult in that sense, it’s also what makes it exciting. Because once you crack it, you have an advantage,” Halling explains.
“But you also need to use that advantage in a way where you don’t rob the patients and the market, because then they will never buy anything from you. And you have to remember your purpose. Our purpose is to help people. So our challenge is in how we do this in an affordable way, and to then go on to develop the next product and go into the next market.”
Halling joined ALK in November 2023 with around 16 years of experience in the biotech and ingredient industry, having spent 13 years at Danish biotechnology company Novonesis (formerly Novozymes) and, most recently, three years as CEO of Fertin Pharma.
Meeting such bold targets is a steep task, he acknowledges, but one he’s tackling head on, largely by expanding ALK’s American operations. Halling says it plans to do this by extending its product offering to pediatricians specifically and moving beyond injectables to also include tablets.
It’s a solution ALK has created in partnership with pharmaceutical manufacturer Catalent to treat numerous allergies, including pollen and house dust mites, with a peanut tablet also in development, which is expected to launch around 2029.
“ALK has been in the United States for decades, primarily with an injectable treatment. A tablet, however, makes it easier for patients, as they don’t need to go to the doctor as they would with an injection, and you can take a tablet to help you on a daily basis,” he explains.
But this innovative solution has its challenges – navigating the dynamics and parameters of the pharmaceutical industry in North America is not easy. And changing focus from its previous audience of allergists to pediatricians is crucial, as allergists prefer to create their own formulas based on the ingredients ALK provides.
Working with pediatricians requires further clinical trials and a broader tablet portfolio, something Halling has been focusing on since his arrival.
“Having lived in the United States for eight years, I have a fairly good understanding of how the market works and how patients think,” he reveals.
“I’ve come in with some viewpoints, asked all the silly questions and, once in a while, one of these questions has sparked an idea or invoked change.”
Further clinical trials have also been completed to produce more ALK immunotherapy treatments for children in other markets, such as Canada and Europe. Expansion in China is on the cards, and it is well-established in Japan through its partner Torii.
Part of the company’s growth strategy involves introducing new immunotherapy products to treat more allergies. It already has an emergency treatment in the form of an adrenaline injector, with an updated version in the works, in addition to its allergy immunotherapy tablet for people with peanut allergy.
“What ALK has been pioneering is actually not symptom treatment, but rather working with the immune system to enable it to gradually come back to a tolerance to the allergy,” Halling says.
“What we do with the immunotherapy and our products is we help the patients step-by-step, typically through a three-year program, to get back to a steadier state where the body can tolerate the allergens. And that means that patients can avoid the more severe conditions associated with the allergy.”
A renewed focus on competitiveness driven by product innovation also comes with a realignment of how ALK’s people contribute to its success. Halling is keen to build a more performance-oriented culture, as a pillar to which to tie the company’s future growth targets.
“We’ve been very successful. But we want to stay competitive and the world is changing so fast that we need to ensure that we stay ahead of the curve,” he reflects.
“We are putting in even more focus on some of the aspects around performance, because then we will continue to be the best. I sense that people also want to do that because they’re proud of what we are, and want to remain proud.
“We’ve been around for 100 years, we have an opportunity to build the foundation for the next 100 years, and we want to make sure we get it right. It is a really unique opportunity and situation to be in.”
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