Biotechnology on the road to success: significant increase in financing in Germany
Biotechnology on the road to success: significant increase in financing in Germany
(Berlin – January 9, 2025) In 2024, the financing of German biotechnology companies increased significantly by 78% compared to the previous year. The sum of venture capital (VC, 898 million euros), capital increases via the stock exchange including convertible bonds (999 million euros) and one initial public offering (20 million euros) totaled 1.917 billion euros (2023: 1.080 billion euros). The increase in financing is high for both private (+68%) and public companies (+82%). If the vaccine developers CureVac and BioNTech are excluded from the record sums raised in the pandemic years (2020/2021), an all-time high was reached in 2024. Compared to 2019 (896 million euros), the amount more than doubled. The number of VC financing rounds for which the amount is known was also significantly higher in 2024 (32) than in the previous two years (2022: 24; 2023: 21). This is the result of the annual survey conducted by the biotechnology industry association BIO Deutschland e. V. in cooperation with EY.
Oliver Schacht, CEO of BIO Deutschland, comments: “It is great to see that the financing of the biotechnology industry in Germany has recovered so well in 2024. Some of our companies faced major challenges in 2022 and 2023. The capital market had collapsed after the pandemic. This not only had consequences for the equity-financed companies, but also for their suppliers and contract researchers. Despite the current very positive development, however, financing innovative start-ups and growth companies remains challenging. That is why projects of the current government, such as the WIN initiative, must also be urgently pursued by the next federal government.”
Viola Bronsema, CEO of BIO Deutschland, adds: “Equity capital is an important pillar – if not the most important – for growth financing for companies that use new, future-critical technologies. The potential of the platform technology 'biotechnology' is increasingly convincing investors worldwide, not only in the field of medicine, but also, for example, for nutrition. At a time when traditional industries in Germany are facing major cutbacks, the federal government should focus on highly innovative industries with high growth potential. In this way, technological sovereignty and innovative sustainable production systems can secure not only the supply, but also the jobs of tomorrow in this country.”
Klaus Ort, Partner at EY and Leader of the Life Sciences & Healthcare market segment, says: “Biotechnology is an important growth market that offers Germany great opportunities. Many of the financed companies are active in disease areas with high unmet medical needs, such as cancer, autoimmune disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. With groundbreaking technologies such as radiopharmaceuticals, antibody drug conjugates, gene editing, protein degradation and programmable therapeutics, the biotech industry is excellently positioned in terms of technology. These opportunities for our society and our economy must now be promoted.”
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About BIO Deutschland:
BIO Deutschland e. V. is an independent biotechnology organization. The business association represents the interests of its members at the national, European and global level. Biotechnology transfers biology into industrial application. It has already had a visible impact in medicine, for example. Innovative bio-based economic systems can enable Germany and Europe to achieve long-term sovereignty and prosperity. The network in the association is interdisciplinary and unique. The members conduct research, development, production and marketing globally. BIO Deutschland is a strong community. It relies on diversity, openness and equal opportunities and is committed to the free democratic basic order. Oliver Schacht, Ph. D., is the chairman of the board of BIO Deutschland.
Further information is available at; www.biodeutschland.org
BIO Deutschland's supporting members and industry partners are:
AGC Biologics, Avia, Baker Tilly, Bayer, BioSpring, Boehringer Ingelheim, BüchnerBarella, Citeline, CMS Hasche Sigle, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Evotec, KPMG, Lonza , Miltenyi Biotec, Novartis, PricewaterhouseCoopers, QIAGEN, Rentschler Biopharma, Roche Diagnostics, Sanofi Aventis Deutschland, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Vibalogics, ZETA.
Contact:
BIO Deutschland e. V.
Dr. Claudia Englbrecht
Schützenstraße 6a
10117 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 2332 164-32
Mobile: +49 151 14067326
E-Mail: englbrecht@biodeutschland.org
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