German Biotechnology Days – successful industry gathering held in Hamburg
On 4 and 5 May, the German biotechnology industry celebrated its annual get-together at the freshly renovated Congress Center Hamburg (CCH). About 650 participants attended the long awaited in-person event in the Hanseatic city. In addition to networking, attendees were also able to build up their knowledge at 28 symposia, luncheons, and breakfast seminars featuring a diverse programme of talks and panels. German Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger praised the industry’s potential in her video welcome address, which included a “Hurray for biotechnology”. Hamburg’s Senator for Economics and Innovation, Michael Westhagemann, was pleased to welcome the industry to the newly reopened convention cent and highlighted the importance of innovative companies in his opening remarks, emphasising that biotechnology needs the support of policy makers.
The programme’s topics ranged from stem cells, RNA therapies, prevention and personalised oncology, to novel food, scale-up of the bioeconomy, and the junction between nano and biotech. Complementing the programme of talks were lively panel discussions on Germany as a manufacturing location, on the “traffic light” government’s agenda to accelerate technological progress and scientific research, and on our state of preparedness for the next pandemic. The topic of communication also loomed large at the event. Christian Stöcker, a professor of digital communication and columnist at the German news magazine Der Spiegel, addressed the industry’s achievements in his keynote talk, but also spoke of the need to do a better job of communicating that biotechnology – along with digitalisation – is one of the key technologies of this century. The programme also included symposia with the German Research and Economics Ministers in which projects funded by the respective ministries were presented. What’s more, the winners of this year’s BioRegions Innovation Award were announced (see additional news item).
The upbeat atmosphere at the CCH continued at the Curio-Haus, where participants enjoyed a pleasant and convivial evening at the invitation of regional host Life Science Nord.
A photo gallery of the DBT 2022 can be found here.
Attendees can stream all symposia held in the “Evotec” conference room via the DBT portal (login required) from now until 16 June.
In addition to palladium sponsor Evotec, the 12th German Biotechnology Days were supported by platinum sponsors BioEcho Life Sciences, Boehringer Ingelheim, EBD Group, Indivumed, Miltenyi Biotec, Mittelstand Global – Made in Germany export initiative, Pharma Intelligence, Rentschler Biopharma, QIAGEN, and Sykam Chromatography.
The German Biotechnology Days are jointly organised by BIO Deutschland and the Council of German BioRegions as well as changing regional hosts. Life Science Nord was the regional host of DBT 2022. The next edition of the German Biotechnology Days, which will be held in collaboration with Hessen Trade and Invest/Technologieland Hessen, is scheduled to take place on 28 and 29 March 2023 in Wiesbaden.
www.biotechnologietage.de/en/