Biotop-report 2012

9

BioTOPics 44 | May 2012 

 Industry 

BioTOP-Report 

pioneers now belong to the world’s leading pharmaceutical 

manufacturers. They started modern research and production 

during the past century and went on to shape the development 

of medicine. 

Two examples:

 

k

In 1930, the world‘s first injectable kidney contrast agent was 

developed in Berlin. The product revolutionized the examina-

tion of kidney diseases. 

 

k

In the 1960ies, Europe’s first contraceptive pill was devel-

oped in Berlin.

This successful tradition ensures that the industry identifies 

strongly with Berlin as a pharmaceuticals location. The indus-

try’s current research focus areas in the German capital include 

cardiology and oncology (e.g. Bayer Healthcare), inflammatory 

diseases and pain therapy (Berlin Chemie). 

The region’s large number of research facilities, SMEs and phar-

maceutical companies provides a unique platform for a wide 

range of cooperation alliances too. The pharmaceuticals corpora-

tion Sanofi, for example, is embarking on a major alliance proj-

ect with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Shared ideas and 

themes, joint research and working together day by day form the 

foundation for this cooperation. The partners have just opened 

their first joint laboratory near the Charité in Berlin-Mitte, where 

their scientists are conducting stroke research. This is one of the 

five themes the partners agreed on after 25 conferences. Other 

fields in which Charité and Sanofi want to cooperate in future 

are rheumatism, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and regenerative 

medicine. 

The project OncoTrack is another example for the region’s co-

operation potentials. It has brought together an international 

consortium of more than 60 representatives from science and 

industry and has launched one of Europe’s biggest cooperative 

research projects to develop new methods for the identification 

of novel colorectal cancer markers. Bayer HealthCare Pharma-

ceuticals and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics 

(MPIMG) are coordinating the consortium’s activities. The unique 

OncoTrack project on „Methods for systematic next generation 

oncology biomarker development“ is currently scheduled for a 

term of five years and is bringing outstanding scientists from a 

range of disciplines and academic institutions across Europe to-

gether with representatives from the pharmaceutical sector.

The major pharmaceutical industry associations are also present 

in Berlin as important actors who represent the interests of the 

pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sector at the political level. 

The German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical 

Companies (vfa) and vfa bio, the German Federal Pharmaceu-

tical Industry Association (BPI), the German Chemical Industry 

Association (VCI) with its regional eastern German association 

and BioDeutschland are all headquartered in the German capital. 

This provides potent synergies for promoting shared objectives. 

For example, alongside many other cooperative projects, BioTOP 

Dr. Dieter Hübl

Chairman of the North-Eastern  

Regional Association of the  

German Chemical Industry Association (VCI)

Berlin is the center of the German pharmaceuticals industry, 

right in the heart of a high-performing region. Pharmaceu-

tical companies have access to many cooperation partners 

here because the German capital is home to internationally 

renowned hospitals, research institutes and outstanding uni-

versities. The region is a global leader in biotechnology, and 

its pharmaceuticals industry is developing pioneering inno-

vations. As core sectors, they are also stimulating broader 

growth in the regional economy.

Prof. Dr. Jochen Maas

Managing Director 

Research & Development

Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH

Cooperation with external partners is increasingly important 

for Sanofi, as indicated by our joint project with the Charité 

in Berlin. We are cooperating in the fields of stroke, inflamma-

tory immunity disorders and diabetes.

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10

BioTOPics 44 | May 2012 

BioTOP-Report

 Industry 

organised the acclaimed symposium “Personalised Medicine: 

Benefits for Patients and Society” in cooperation with vfa bio, the 

biotechnology group of the vfa.

BioTOP and its partners in the cluster management organisation 

ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg (ZAB) and at Berlin Partner 

support international pharmaceuticals companies looking for 

potential cooperation partners in science and in biotech SMEs. 

In recent months, for example, we welcomed international del-

egations from Genzyme, Pfizer and Novartis and organised struc-

tured partnering with regional scientists and companies. 

Financing situation

Some capital-intensive companies are still using money from 

funding rounds in previous years. Most companies provide funds 

for themselves as part of organic growth, naturally also due to the 

difficulty of accessing external financial resources. Public support 

therefore remains an extremely important factor for developing 

new products, since it is still the case that only few companies 

have access to VC funding. 

According to a study by Fleischhauer, Hoyer & Partner, a pan-

el of 36 leading VC investors, investment in Germany fell from 

Euro 505 million in 2010 to Euro 445 million in 2011 (panel-

ists only). That represents a 14 % drop, but is nevertheless a 24 % 

increase compared to 2009. Most of the capital was invested in 

biotechnology (Euro 70 million) and medical technology (Euro 66 

million). The regional distribution of all investment shows Ber-

lin-Brandenburg in third place behind Bavaria and North Rhine-

Westphalia. 

Market Segments of Companies

 190

 180

 170

 160

 150

 140

 130

 120

 110

 100

 90

 80

 70

 60

 50

 40

 30

 20

 10

 0

Most companies focus on biomedicine. A total of 83 % of companies, focus primarily on development in the areas of new diagnostics, drug development and associated services 

or technologies. 13 % of the companies are active in the agriculture/food sector, white biotechnology/environmental biotechnology amounts to 19 % of all entries. 

(Source: Internal survey, BioTOP database, responses from 215 companies, multiple entries, February 2012)

Number of companies

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

11

13%

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

11

19%

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

11

83%

27

40

178

White Biotechnology /Environmental Biotechnology

Biomedicine

Agriculture/Food

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