Meeting of the Working Group on Finance and Taxation during BioEquity in Zurich

Reports from abroad in the middle of May stated that US President Barack Obama has made US$ 1 billion available to small biotech companies in the USA. A similar decision would also be welcomed in Germany – however, the discussions in this country focus more on helping large companies. On 18 May, Bio Deutschland’s Working Group on Finance and Taxation met during BioEquity at the offices of Ernst & Young in Zurich, where the topics on their agenda included tax incentives for Research & Development (R&D). An article on the association’s positions on this subject was published in the latest edition of the specialised journal, Transkript.

The main topic of the meeting was the current funding conditions, with a special focus on corporate VC funds, on which there were presentations and a discussion of their impact. Markus Goebel gave a presentation on the Novartis Venture Funds and its option model and Christoph Hüls gave a talk on the strategy-oriented Merck Serono fund. Afterwards, Christoph Nonn from Ernst & Young explained the importance of the autonomy of the tax balance sheet in accordance with the Balance Sheet Modernisation Act. The meeting was rounded off by other topics from the sub-working groups such as accountancy for self-created intellectual property under this law, the moratorium on the redevelopment clause (8c) of the Corporate Tax Act (Federal Ministry of Finance) in the EU, and the configuration of VC funding.

Bio Deutschland members can shortly request a copy of the minutes of the meeting from the association’s office. The next meeting is expected to take place in Munich on 21 October 2010.