Why this is important to Wisconsin businesses: Germany’s biotech market is one of the largest worldwide and has become one of the most promising sectors in the country’s economy.
Germany’s biotechnology industry is growing rapidly.
In 2021, biotech revenue totaled nearly $29 billion, triple the previous year’s revenue, and recorded 774 companies operating in the sector with 44,500 employees.
Research and development spending topped $4 billion, according to Germany Trade and Invest, the country’s economic promotion agency.
Germany’s biotech industry is organized primarily into about 24 clusters, in which companies, research institutes, technology parks, and local communities collaborate to share education and services.
Germany ranks eighth in university-industry collaborations and third in cluster development, and has strong laws protecting intellectual property.
Munich is the leading center of biotechnology in Germany. Nearly half of all of the active biopharmaceutical ingredients certified by the European Union are manufactured in the biopharma cluster based in Munich. A majority of the 270 companies in the cluster conduct research in the field of personalized medicine, with a focus on therapeutic and diagnostic procedures.
A 2021 survey by McKinsey & Co. shows France, Germany, and the UK are the top three biotech centers in Europe; together, they house half of all the biotech companies in Europe.
The growing industry and strong investments in research and development indicate that Germany’s biotech industry could provide good market opportunities for innovative biotech companies in Wisconsin—especially those involved in cancer therapies. The biotech cluster organizations can help assess the best regions for market entry and can help identify potential business partners. The clusters also offer foreign investors an existing supply chain and employees with the necessary skills, and they can facilitate access to universities and research institutions.
To learn more about Germany’s biotech industry or to make connections with colleagues there, Analytica 2024, Germany’s leading biotech trade fair, will be held in Munich on April 9-12.
