BIOTECH CHINA 2008 - German Pavilion

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GTQ

Welcome to the German Pavilion!

BIOTECH CHINA 2008
28 – 30 May 2008
Shanghai International Exhibition Centre (INTEX), P.R. China

Biotechnology in Germany

The biotech industry in Germany reached new levels of maturity in the last years: when compared to the previous year, both the number of employees and the revenues generated by the sector increased markedly. This is the central finding of the most recent survey of biotechnology companies, conducted in spring 2007 by the information portal www.biotechnologie.de on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The data, which was gathered according to the guidelines laid out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), provides a comprehensive overview of the economic situation of the German biotech landscape.

In 2006, a total of 495 companies in Germany dealt exclusively or predominantly with modern biotechnological procedures and are thus defined by the OECD as dedicated biotechnology companies. For a further 56 companies, biotechnology is business activity alongside others. The OECD defines these as innovative biotechnologically active companies. Included in this group in particular are pharma firms as well as chemicals and seeds manufacturers. Unless otherwise indicated, the following information from the survey refers exclusively to the dedicated biotech enterprises.

214 companies (43%) develop new medicines or diagnostic tests for the field of human medicine. On top of this, there are a further 8 companies (2%) that mainly develop animal medicines. Thus, health or “red biotechnology” remains the most important industry segment.

195 companies (nearly 40%) are defined by the OECD as being involved in non-specific applications of biotechnology. Included in this category are companies that are exclusively or predominantly involved in providing services for the biotechnology industry or are suppliers for biotech firms. Companies that carry out contract-based production of biological molecules without conducting any development themselves are also included in this category, which is the second most important segment of the sector. Much further behind, accounting for 36 firms (7%) in Germany, is industrial or ‘white’ biotechnology. Here, the core fields of activity are the development of technical enzymes, new biomaterials or biotechnological production processes. Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that although this field of activity is not a focus of dedicated biotech companies, it is very important for the chemical industry. For this reason, the economic relevance is likely much greater than the data would suggest. Only 28 companies (nearly 6%) belong to the category of ‘green’ or agrobiotechnology. A further 14 companies (3%) cannot be categorized specifically. Most of these are in the field of bioinformatics.

In 2006, the 495 dedicated biotech companies had 14,150 employees on their books, an increase of 9% on the previous year. Just over 45% of these employees have a university degree. Furthermore, 14,800 of the total figure are employed in the biotechnology-related business areas of pharmaceutical, chemical or agricultural companies, a dramatic increase of 36% on 2005. With this, the total number employed in commercial biotechnology in Germany is 29,000, 22% more than the previous year.

Research Societies in Germany

Research in Germany has a long tradition and is in most instances organized by large research societies. This section provides information about their origins, their philosophies and main activities.

• Max Planck Society
• Fraunhofer Association
• Helmholtz Association
• Leibniz Association

Germany at BIOTECH CHINA

At BIOTECH CHINA you will have the opportunity to contact and network with more than 8 German companies and representatives. Learn more about this exciting country in the middle or Europe with one of the most dynamic biotech sector worldwide.

Please visit the German delegation at our Pavilion at booth # A11.

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology – BMWi, the German Federal Ministry of Research – BMBF, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry – AUMA and the German Biotechnology Industry Organisation – BIO Deutschland will be very glad to welcome you at the German Pavilion at booth # A11.

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