Political Working Breakfast on the Financing Ecosystem for Gene and Cell Therapies

As a prelude to the Biotech Finance Summit, BIO Deutschland and Thermo Fisher Scientific hosted a political working breakfast in Berlin. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together entrepreneurs with politicians and representatives of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and the German Federal Ministry of Health to discuss the future potential of groundbreaking developments in the field of gene and cell therapies and their financing ecosystem. Following presentations by Bernhard Kluttig, Head of Industrial Policy at the German Federal Ministry of Economics, Ruppert Stüwe (Member of the German Bundestag, SPD) and Christof von Kalle from the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at the Charité, the 40 participants discussed the latest developments and opportunities in the biotechnology sector in the field of gene and cell therapies under the moderation of Kirsten Tief-Küry (Thermo Fisher Scientific/CEO BIO Germany). The dialog focused on the current trends and challenges in biotechnology in this area and the framework conditions for the challenges of financing new business models in this context. The BIH plans to organize an Investor Day on this topic next year. The event will be part of the National Strategy for Gene- and Cell-Based Therapies and the nationwide entrepreneurship education series GeneNovate on June 27 at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.