BIO Deutschland Holds its Third Parliamentary Evening in Berlin

At the beginning of May, BIO Deutschland held its third information evening in Berlin on the topics of biotechnology and genetic engineering. Around 40 guests from ministries and industrial enterprises from the biotech sector attended. The aim of the event was to discuss innovations in biotechnology in Germany, to present examples of success stories from the sector and to provide an insight into factors influencing success.

Following an introduction to the subject matter by Peter Heinrich (President of the Board of BIO Deutschland and CEO of MediGene AG), short presentations were given on industrial biotechnology and its function in the biologisation of key industries (Holger Zinke, BRAIN AG) and on the process from the product concept to the European approval of the Icatibant drug (Jochen Knolle, Jerini AG). Participants also learned about the importance of the protection of intellectual property as a prerequisite for innovation (Rainer Wessel, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG) and the parameters for financing R&D (Jan Schmidt-Brand, Heidelberg Pharma AG).

During the dinner after the presentations, members of the Bundestag and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Economics and Technology were able to learn more about the background to the economic potential of German biotechnology from members of the board of BIO Deutschland, chairpersons of the working groups, businesspeople from Berlin and representatives from the BioRegions’ working team.