Berlin (4.12.2008) – "The German biotechnology industry will need at least a billion euro in private financial capital during the next three years if it is to maintain the status quo and hold its own internationally against competitors," Peter Heinrich, Chairman of the Board of the association of the biotechnology industry, BIO Deutschland, stressed today at the annual CEO & CFO meeting of the biotech sector in Berlin.

Speaking on the current financial and economic crisis, Peter Heinrich, who is also the founder and CEO of the Martinsried-based company MediGene AG, stated at the beginning of the conference that there is no reason to panic. He noted that it was striking how the health sector was faring relatively well in the currently severely weakened capital market area. The health and pharmaceuticals sector always overcome various crises as there is still demand for drugs or biotech products even during a recession. "The entire innovative force of the pharmaceutical industry comes from innovations from biotechnology. For this reason, I am very confident that we will easily survive this winter," Heinrich added.

Kai Uwe Bindseil, director of the biotechnology initiative of the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg, BioTOP, and spokesperson for the German BioRegions Council, spoke about the importance of very close cooperation among the existing networks. "There is hardly any other sector where cooperation between trade and research is as intensive as in biotechnology. The furthering of existing cooperation and the initiation of new cooperation are key factors for an even more intensive transfer of technology and the development of innovations in the sector." In addition, the director of the host region for this year’s CEO & CFO meeting emphasised the need to have a strongly interconnected sector in the current market and financial situation.

On the same topic, Viola Bronsema, Managing Director of BIO Deutschland, demanded greater support on the part of the government. "With the help of innovation-friendly tax conditions, small and medium-sized enterprises that conduct research and development can be strengthened." She added that the investment climate must also be improved so that new and urgently needed capital can be brought to Germany. In conclusion, Viola Bronsema said, "The importance of biotechnology and its innovative small and medium-sized enterprises for our economy must be more present in the minds of decision-makers and opinion leaders."

The CEO & CFO meeting, the most important meeting of its kind in Germany, is being held for the tenth time on 4 and 5 December in Berlin. More than 100 board members and managing directors from biotechnology companies will discuss the topics of growth process, finance, and outsourcing as a strategic advantage. However, the most significant feature of the agenda is that there will be some 60 company presentations with details about business models and the latest sector-specific developments, which the participants will be able to discuss.

The meeting is supported by West LB AG as the main sponsor, as well as by Diapharm Biotech GmbH and Amantec GmbH.

• Hanover: With the publication today of conference papers from the 2008 Biopolitics Conference, the Hanover-based Deutsche Messe raises topical questions about how to safeguard the innovative capacities of the biotechnology sector. More than 150 representatives from industry, research and politics met on 7 October during this year’s BIOTECHNICA to discuss the most urgent issues in the biotech sector. During eight simultaneous workshops, ideas about how to improve conditions for innovation in Germany were drafted. These include the following:
• Removing the tax disadvantages affecting small and medium-sized companies in relation to large industry.
• The creation of a third-level basis that teaches commercial skills and leadership qualities alongside scientific degree courses The biotechnology sector needs particularly well trained young professionals as well as a welcoming professional environment and structure.
• The costs for innovative drugs that improve treatment should be reimbursed by the health insurance companies. Benefits for the patients, including cost-benefit analyses in the interest of the patient, should be weighted on the basis of societal values. In addition, the development of new drugs licensing and reimbursement criteria for new types of treatment is necessary.
• Moreover, a revision of the Law on Employee Inventions is required. It must be ensured that the rights to inventions made in a company belong to the firm while the rights of the inventor are also preserved.
• The conference participants also stated that the vital importance of technology transfer for the economy should finally be recognised and that this should be actively promoted as a tool in global competition for the consolidation of Germany as a business location. In addition, it should be ascertained that people who are educated in this country invest their skills in Germany and that the investment in education can thus make a contribution to the national net product.
• There was also a consensus that progress in the synthetic biology sector can only develop its potential on a long-term basis if it is combined with the necessary security measures to avoid abuse and mistakes in its application.
• The following associations and lobby groups from the biotech sector cooperated in the planning of the programme content of the Biopolitics Conference: the sector association, BIO Deutschland; the German BioRegions Council; the German Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI); the Association of German Biotech Companies in the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA/VBU); the IASB (International Association of Synthetic Biology); the German Biotechnology Industry Association (DIB); and the lobby group, Biotechnology within the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA Bio)

Berlin/Brussels (June, 10 2008): European Small and Medium-sized biopharmaceutical companies had the opportunity to network with counterparts from the larger pharmaceutical companies at the second edition of the Business Development Conference, organised by the industry associations European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE) and BIO Deutschland.

Despite the increasing costs, falling output and failure of some new technologies in the European biotechnology R&D landscape, in recent years the start-up rate of new enterprises has increased and the growth of existing European companies has accelerated. Alliances with midsize and big pharma have become a more and more important aspect in European biotech business plans.

With this in mind, the conference focused on two major topics: "New types of strategies" and "Best management practices and innovation leadership as key factors to biotech company success and value creation". Executives from key biotech, pharmaceutical companies, private equity and VC firms shared their experience, concrete case-studies and their views concerning the key factors for facilitating growth of the European Biotech sector. The conference also analysed recent developments in R&D, from platform technologies to new therapeutic agents of the 21st century and the delivery of monoclonal antibodies.

Peter Heinrich, CEO MediGene AG, President BIO Deutschland and EBE Board Member said: "Biotechnology is not only important for the economy with thousands of people employed, but is also essential to the larger pharmaceutical companies which use biotech companies as a source for innovation and finally, let’s not forget, the patients waiting for novel medicines".

The event attracted 100 CEOs and senior executives from (bio)pharmaceutical companies, private equity and venture capital companies from around Europe and USA. The exclusive setting of the conference helped participants learn, network and do business. Further to the extremely positive feedback received from attendees, EBE and BIO Deutschland are planning to hold a 3rd edition in 2009, in Germany.

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Berlin (04.06.2008) - The industry association of the German biotechnology, BIO Deutschland, demands against the background of tomorrow's meeting of EU Environment Ministers in Luxembourg, that the innovative potential of small and medium-sized seed producers be no longer hindered and that research in the area of plant biotechnology be clearly recognised.

"European governments cannot denounce the domination of worldwide markets by food and animal feed concerns on the one hand and restrict the innovative strength of small and medium-sized seed producers on the other," said Jens Katzek, member of BIO Deutschland’s directors board.

During the EU Environment Ministers' Council Meeting, topics to be discussed include the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMO) on the environment, the definition of labelling thresholds for seed, and the modalities by EU member states to control plantations of authorised GMOs.

Against this background, Jens Katzek warned, "A restrictive European policy on innovation indirectly strengthens multinational companies, which are easily able to relocate research and development on new products to a more technology-friendly environment." He added that only freedom of competition between new ideas from research and innovative companies makes it possible to offer a wide product range that is attractive to consumers at home and abroad. In conclusion, Jens Katzek stated: "It should be a matter of permitting a mutually beneficial economic environment of large and small companies, as already exists among pharmaceutical firms and biotechnology companies, for instance, which often cooperate in the area of the development of new types of medication."

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• healthy development despite mediocre business environment
• good business situation in 61% of the companies
• 72% want to create new jobs
• reduced growth in R&D expenditure

Berlin (15 January 2008) - German biotech companies are starting 2008 on an optimistic note, as shown by a survey carried out by the trade association of the German biotechnology industry, BIO Deutschland e.V., in cooperation with the biotech journal, "Transkript". The results of the survey were presented at a press conference in Berlin today.

A large majority of the German biotech companies who took part in the survey said that their current business situation was good (61%). A third of the companies regarded their own situation as "satisfactory". The majority of the companies also saw their medium-term future in a positive light: 55% expect their own situation to develop well. This leads to a very positive development in employment: following job increases in previous years, almost three-quarters of the companies (72%) also want to hire more personnel in 2008.

However, according to the results of the survey, investments in research and development will increase less than in the previous year - while 56% of the firms planned to increase their investment in this area in 2007, only 47% plan to do so in 2008. Moreover, the assessment of the business climate, that is, of the political, economic and social conditions, is less positive than in 2007 - most of the German companies regarded it as "satisfactory" (56%), 16% as bad and only 28% as good. The group of dissatisfied firms doubled in comparison to last year. In the current survey, only 43% believed that the general conditions would improve, as compared with 54% in 2007. The percentage of those who expect that the business climate will not change in the future increased by 10 percentage points to 50%.

At the press conference, Rainer Wessel, a member of the board of BIO Deutschland, said, "The biotech sector in Germany is growing and will continue to grow." He added that the optimistic assessment of the current situation and the plans to create skilled jobs showed this clearly.

Jens Katzek, a member of the board of BIO Deutschland, added that the results of the survey also serve as a reminder of the need to improve the political and economic conditions: "In the past years, German companies have increasingly established themselves strongly and have adapted their business models." Katzek - in consideration of the German Corporate Tax Reform and the Amendment of the Genetic Engineering Law - continued: "However, if Germany wants to secure a leading position in international technology, political support is needed. We lacked this support last year."

In addition, Andreas Mietzsch, Chairman of the Board of BIOCOM AG and editor of "Transkript", said: "Half of economics is psychology – bad news from the high-risk sector of drugs development, like that from GPC or Paion, naturally has a negative effect on the business climate for a while. But this doesn´t change the fact that biotechnology is on a steep growth curve and that its innovative and environmentally friendly products are successful in more and more economic sectors."

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