Ralf Dreher: Foodstuffs in the spotlight
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- Ralf Dreher has headed the Darmstadt-based biotech company R-Biopharm for over 20 years. Source: Ralf Dreher
15.03.2014 -
For Ralf Dreher, being the head of the company R-Biopharm does not leave much time for hobbies. But if he does manage to grab some free time, the father of four and entrepreneur, who is originally from the Swabian Alb region, is likely to head off into nature. Jogging along the Mühltal on the edge of the Odenwald forest or watching a tennis match at TSV Nieder-Ramstadt sports club is how the 60-year-old finds the calmness and strength that is needed as the head of a global biotech company.
Barring incredible powers of premonition, if you had encountered Ralf Dreher in 1988, you would not have felt that you were meeting a born entrepreneur. Indeed, there will have been few signs that, 25 years, later this man would be the boss and 74-percent majority owner of a successful diagnostics and analytics company with 500 employees. Moreover, the scientist, who holds a doctorate in food chemistry, is the first to admit that he is as surprised as anybody about the path his life has taken: “Back then, I was very research-oriented.” After completing his studies in Karlsruhe as well as a PhD in Tübingen, the 35-year-old Ralf Dreher joined the newly founded R-Biopharm in the position of research director. His chief responsibility: product development. Just three years later, he scraped together half a million marks, bought the entire company, became its manager and went on to form a global company with an annual turnover of €100 million.
Cut back again to 1988: Axel Röhm, head of plastic specialists Röhm GmbH (now Evonik), wanted to try his hand in the area of biotechnology. “R-Biopharm was his play area,” reveals Dreher. Independent of the commercial activities of the company, the six-piece troupe had practically free rein. For Röhm, they conducted research into the immobilisation of enzymes onto carrier materials for food analysis, and for Rohm Pharma GmbH a series of projects on human diagnostics. The situation changed when Röhm was sold to the chemicals group Hüls (now Evonik). Hüls was only interested in the Plexiglas arm of the company. This also marked the end of the fun days of their little ‘biotech club’.
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Funding example: Illuminating foods for gluten |
R-Biopharm rescued from break-up
The discussions about what would happen next included a possible dissolution of the company. “I would have really felt bad about that. We had been working hard for three years.” But Dreher found a way out: a management buyout. “That was the decisive step in my career,” he says today. On the one hand, the risk was high. R-Biopharm had eleven employees, was incurring losses with very little revenue, and had no distribution. On the other hand, there were more positive signs to consider: “I didn’t have to start from scratch. The premises and facilities were in place. And we had the first four products from the area of food analytics already on offer.” Dreher took the plunge – and almost regretted it. A gruelling litigation process began in 1993 when Röhm Pharma was acquired by Procter & Gamble. All of a sudden, their orders at R-Biopharm were discontinued. “We had just invested in the GMP-compliant production of human diagnostics products – for Rohm Pharma!” Dreher: “That was a blow!” What happened next was a brave turnaround by the R-Biopharm head: The external workers at Röhm Pharma were lured away and the products distributed in-house. The Americans intervened – and won the case. But the dispute had dragged on for years.
Profitable in just three years
The Darmstadt-based company’s next move was to come up with a series of new and successful products. “We have been profitable since 1994,” emphasises Dreher. The annual growth rates of up to 40 percent speak for themselves. And throughout, they don’t give much away. “We are not closed off, but we don’t always have to be in discussions about our operations,” says the 60-year-old. The company’s acquisitions are frequently without press releases of any kind. On this, Dreher is succinct: “This will not help us to sell any more kit.” With its well-known financial commitment in Humatrix AG and Candor Bioscience GmbH, R-Biopharm is nevertheless giving a clear sign that it believes that the future lies in personalised medicine. In 1991, the fledgling entrepreneurs had the vision of building up a successful company with a great working environment in which they strive to give employees room to make decisions on their own. Here, the boss hopes to encourage his employees not to fear mistakes, which are bound to happen at some point. So, is this mission accomplished? “Yes, mission accomplished.” But in the manner of fulfilled dreams, pretty soon there’s a new dream in its place. “How long can I maintain this spirit in the company at the current rate of growth?” is the question he is asking now. Each new level has a diluting effect. Dreher is convinced that “In large companies it is simply not possible to maintain a creative climate.” Where is this line crossed? He doesn’t have any easy answers, but it is likely that when he reaches this line, he’ll simply push it out of the way and redefine it all over again.
Author: Martin Laqua
