Bavarian Biotech Report 2011/2012 (7MB) - Bio M

Furthermore, the continued interest of Big Pharma intargeted “mini partnerships” in places such as theMunich metropolitan area – which we jointly implementwith companies and scientific institutions (resulting infirst concrete agreements) –demonstrates the top-classrelevance of technology and product development byBavarian researchers and companies on a global scale.Within this context, it is particularly important to constantlypromote and support the often cited “resource ofknowledge” that Germany essentially offers as a locationadvantage in the global competition. All of the abovementionedsuccesses by Bavarian biotechnology companiesarise from targeted support measures from thenational and the Bavarian state government at a particularBavarian location of higher education. In continuationof this successful science policy, Bavaria is currentlyfocusing strongly on systems biology (research networkfor molecular biosystems, BioSysNet), linking the excellentexpertise of the structural scientists working withProfessor Patrick Cramer at the Gene Centre of the LMUMunich with information technology and medical informaticsat other scientific locations in Bavaria in order topave the way for systems medicine. Furthermore, researchnetworks have also been established or are currentlybeing created or expanded across Bavaria in immunotherapyfor researching the metastasis of cancer andneurodegenerative disorders. This is also absolutelyessential for expanding the excellent scientific foundationat all locations.It is equally important to continuously improve thetechnology transfer of these findings in their application.We hope that the strengthening of translational researchin Bavarian clinical research departments will result inreal and possibly life-saving developments, especially forthe sake of the patients.There are frequently fundamental discussions in academiccircles about the orientation on application in research.One argument is that when researchers subjectthemselves to dependence upon business enterprisesand their changing needs, the “freedom” of sciencesuffers severely if the industrial partner makes the decisionas to whether or not the research findings arepublished. These discussions often fail to mention thatthis is not about hindering the acquisition of knowledgebut actually making it possible in the first place. In particular,the research landscape in the USA is an example ofhow private and/or corporate support is simply a prerequisitefor high-end research and its position (at the top)could never be adequately financed by public funds.The fact that these young entrepreneurs most recentlyalso come from life sciences is in part an achievement ofthe completely new “m 4 Award”. This award was conceivedin Munich’s Leading-Edge Cluster in order to grantfinancial support to academic projects in the proof-ofconceptphase. Thanks to generous support by the BavarianMinistry of Economic Affairs, this competition –which is now endowed with more than 8 million euros –was expanded across all of Bavaria and established inpartnership with all of the state’s facilities and networksthat are involved in technology transfer. This has closedthe gap that some inventors must face until they canparticipate with their idea in a business plan competitionand hopefully succeed in presenting themselves toinvestors. More than 80 project ideas were submittedafter the first call in 2011, and they have revealed thetypes of treasures slumbering at the research facilities inthe area of personalised medicine. It was then possibleto teach these scientists about approaching investors asthey received additional, targeted and professionalcoaching for example at a special „boot camp“.It is also important for such new entrepreneurs to find ahome for their company that allows it to grow. TheBavarian start-up centres play an essential – even indispensable– role in this respect: The IGZ in Wurzburgoffers office and laboratory space in an area of morethan 5,000 m 2 , which is currently used by more than 20companies with a total of 300 employees. The team ofthe IGZ also assists start-ups with business issuesranging from patenting to financing and gets activelyinvolved in measures to promote start-ups from theexceptionally well-positioned Department of Biomedicineat the University of Wurzburg and its hospital.The Medical Valley Centre in Erlangen focuses on medicaland diagnostic technology, as well as IT. It also offerscutting-edge equipment on 5,000 m 2 and an excellencenetwork of small and large global market leaders inmedical technology that received impressive awards inthe BMBF Leading-Edge Cluster competition.12