6

VentureCapital
Magazin
Special June 2009 Private Equity • Buyouts • M&A

VentureCapital
www.vc-magazin.de
Magazin
Magazine for Investors and Entrepreneurs
Incl. 16 pages HRO-Guide
“Doing Business in Germany”

Würzburg Bayreuth

Nuremberg

Regensburg

Freising
Munich
Martinsried

SPECIAL

Biotech-Cluster Bavaria
Bavaria is Germany’s most important Biotech-Cluster – Interview with Bavaria's Economics
Minister Zeil – Overview: Munich Area, Regensburg Area, Würzburg Area – Interview with
Prof. Dr. Horst Domdey: “The stability of our companies in hard times shows their superb
quality” – Aspects of Biotechnology Patenting in Europe – Interview with Dr. Simon Moroney
Biotechnology
www.biotech-bavaria.de

Cluster Bavaria

Germany's No. 1

Munich: Top Location in Germany

4 approved Biotech-Drugs
120 Biotech, 400 LifeScience companies
BigDeals with Pfizer, Novartis...
world leading production plant
(Roche in Penzberg)
more than 30.000 employees
in business and science

Your gateway to excellence

Biotechnology in Bavaria and i.e.
in the Greater Munich Area is
managed and coordinated by BioM.
Find out more about the companies,
job opportunities, news:

www.bio-m.org
Editorial
A leading
biotech region

During the past 20 years,

Bavaria has become a lead- Mathias Renz, project manager
ing biotech region. Out-
standing research institu- YOUR KEY
tes as well as entrepreneurial activities in the Bavarian
biotech regions have created a viable biotech industry.
In addition, international pharma and chemical compa-
nies as well as companies in the medical engineering or
TO BAVARIA
environmental technology sectors are located in Bava- KEY TECHNOLOGIES IN BAVARIA
ria. Within this short period an industry employing
around 9.000 people (21.000 including pharma and sup-
pliers) has established itself and has been able to build
up a tightly-knit network of interrelationships, not only
within itself, but also at international level. EASY ACCESS TO ECONOMIC PARTNERS IN BAVARIA
In 2008, one quarter of all German VC investments were Exclusively available at Bayern International, the publication
made in Bavaria. VC-investments in Life Sciences in Ger- ”Key Technologies in Bavaria“ is free of charge and offers access
many account for about 140 million euros in 2008 (BVK,
German Private Equity and Venture Capital Association) to more than 10,000 industries and companies.
nearly half of it went into Bavarian companies. Success-
ful financing rounds were completed by Freising’s Pieris
(25 million euros), Suppremol (16 million euros) and Visit www.key-technologies-in-bavaria.de to obtain the regularly
Corimmun (5 million euros), all from Martinsried. And updated information on all 20 industries online and use the various
some publicly listed companies from Martinsried actually
even managed to increase their capital in 2008, namely search functions provided for your convenience. Tap the potential
4SC (30 million euros) and Micromet (30 million euros). of Bavaria‘s innovative industries and order your free CD now.
Virologik of Erlangen acquired financing of 7 million
euros and many got seed funds in the 6 to 7-digit range
such as Sirion and Lophius. Interestingly, the companies
doubled the volume of support funding provided from
governmental or federal sources to 16 million euros
compared with 2007.

This special report by VentureCapital Magazin is inten-

ded to provide you, dear reader, with an overview of the
biotechnology cluster in Bavaria, and to illustrate the
capabilities of its individual regions and companies,
using interviews, case studies and background reports.

I hope you find it an interesting read.

mathias.renz@vc-magazin.de
Further information:
keytechs@bayern-international.de or
+49 (0)180 5 949260
(14 cents per min. for calls from Germany;
fees for international calls subject to your local provider)

Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 3 WWW.BAYERN-INTERNATIONAL.COM

 3 Editorial
A leading biotech region
Overview
6 The fruits of perseverance
Content
Bavaria set to become a
global toplocation
8 “The aim is and will con-
tinue to occupy the top
position in Europe”
Interview with the
Bavarian Economics
Minister Martin Zeil
9 Biotech-Cluster Bavaria:
facts & figures
10 “The stability of our
companies in hard times
shows their superb
quality”
Interview with Prof. Dr.
Horst Domdey
13 “Today’s entrepreneurs
face much more favou-
rable conditions”
Interview with Dr. Simon
Moroney, founder and
CEO of MorphoSys
14 Viewpoint
City of Munich offers
fertile ground for the life
sciences industry
4 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
Southern Bavaria/IZB Northern Bavaria
16 The cradle of Biotech 28 Life Sciences in Würzburg
Munich is Germany’s The Innovation- and Start-
most important Biotech- up-center for Biotechno-
Region logy and Biomedicine
20 Case Study 30 Case Study – Testing
Proteros biostruc- underway on new drug
tures GmbH Vasopharm GmbH: pre-
venting brain swelling
20 Case Study following traumatic brain
Pieris AG injuries
21 “We would love to stay in
the IZB”
Interview with Dr. Ulrich VentureCapital
Dauer, CEO of 4SC AG Magazin
Special Edition: “Biotech-
Legal Cluster Bavaria”
Supplement of VentureCapital
22 Aspects of Biotechnology Magazin, issue 6/2009
Patenting in Europe
Dr. Andrea Schüssler,
Huber & Schüssler Attor- Publisher: GoingPublic Media AG,
Hofmannstr. 7a, 81379 München,
neys, Munich Tel.: 089-2000339-0, Fax: 089-2000339-39,
E-Mail: info@goingpublic.de,
Internet: www.vc-magazin.de,
www.goingpublic.de,
Eastern Bavaria www.unternehmeredition.de
Editorial staff: Mathias Renz (project
24 David against Goliath manager), Andreas Uhde (Editor-in-
East Bavarian bio-techno- Chief), Torsten Paßmann
logy steps out from under
Contributers: Gerhard Bönsch, Magdalena
Munich’s shadow Lammel, Bernd Luxa, Florian Schiessl,
Dr. Andrea Schüssler, Prof. Dr. Olaf G. Wil-
helm
25 Vindicated by success
Interview with Dr. Thomas Proofreading: Ade Team
Diefenthal and Dr. Peter Design: Elisabeth Bayer, Robert Berger,
Terhart Holger Aderhold
Printing: Joh. Walch GmbH & Co. KG,
Augsburg
 Where the future becomes reality

HOTSPOTS FOR LIFE SCIENCE STARTUPS

s Lab and office space (S1 & S2)

s Competitive leasing rents
s Furnished, flexible rooms
s In-house estate management
s The center of an impressive research campus
(2 excellent universities TU & LMU, Max Planck Institutes for Bioche-
mistry and Neurobiology, Clinic Großhadern, Gene Center, Biomedical
Center, Prion Center, 40 biotech companies) Am Klopferspitz 19
s Close contacts with investment partners 82152 Planegg/Martinsried
Fon: +49 (0) 89 - 700 656 70
s Home for more than 50 startups Fax: +49 (0) 89 - 700 656 77
s Joint location marketing
s Attractive, modern conference rooms also for external booking www.izb-online.de
Our tenants:
4SC AG (DD)· AMSilk GmbH (DD) · amYmed GmbH (DS) · Becton Dickinson GmbH (I) · Bernina Plus & Hartmann Diagnostic Service (DD/DS)· BioM AG (S) ·
BioM Cluster Development GmbH (S) · BioM WB GmbH (S)· Biontex Laboratories GmbH (P) · Coriolis PharmaService GmbH (S) ·
CRELUX GmbH (DD/DS) · DoNatur GmbH (DD) · EKFS HerzchirurgieProf. Dr. Eissner (DD) · Ella Biotech GmbH (DS) · Emergent BioSolutions GmbH (DD/DS) ·
eticur) GmbH (DS)· Fresenius Biotech GmbH (DD) · Bayerische Gewebebank GmbH (P/S) · ibidi GmbH (DS) · Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH (DD) ·
Management Consulting Merx - McM GmbH (S) · MenloSystems GmbH (I) · NanoScape AG (P) · Octagene GmbH (DD/DS) ·
Omegametrix GmbH (DS) · optoSIC GmbH (S) · origenis GmbH (DD/DS) · Prionics Deutschland GmbH (S) ·Proteros biostructures GmbH (P/S) ·
quattro research GmbH (DD/DS) · QinLAB Diagnostik (P) · R&D Biopharmaceuticals GmbH (DD/DS) ·SiNatur GmbH · siRion BIOTECH GmbH (P/S) · Smart Move GmbH (I) ·
Smartec Ingenieur Büro GmbH (S) · SpheroTec GmbH (DS) · SuppreMol GmbH (DD) · that‘s it gmbh (IT-S) ·
the working group Unternehmensberatung (S)· Trion Research GmbH (DD/DS) · VELUMETRIX GMBH (S) · aromaLab AG (S) · ATRES engineering biogas (S) ·
BioEPS GmbH (S/DS)· Euroderm GmbH (P) · GENidee (DD/DS) · HDBI Hans-Dieter-Belitz-Institut (P/I) · IKINOWO GmbH (DS/P/I/S) · Pieris AG (DD) ·
TUM Biomolecular Food Technology (DD) · UGT Umwelt-Geräte-Technik GmbH (I) · vertis Biotechnologie AG (DD/DS)

DD = Drug Discovery · DS = Diagnostic Services · I = Instruments · IT-S = IT-Services · S = Services status: april 09
 The fruits of perseverance

Bavaria set to become a global toplocation

No German state has pursued such an ambitious and companies and jobs and – most importantly – de-
determined biotechnology policy as Bavaria over the last velops as many drugs as Bavaria. The product pipe-
15 years. The Free State’s biotechnology sector is now line for all therapeutics currently being developed
Overview

the largest and most dynamic in Germany, above all in
the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology. This is all the
more remarkable as conditions in Bavaria were not the
best at the start of the European biotech boom in the mid-
1990s. What exactly has driven the region’s success,
which companies have developed there and what poli-
tical measures have created such a favourable climate?
We look at what has shaped the location.
in the region includes 44 in clinical phases I to III.
Four drugs are already on the market. A total of 164
biotechnology companies employ about 3,200
people and generated an estimated turnover of 400
million euros in 2008, mostly in Munich, Würzburg
and Regensburg. Eight of the 13 listed German phar-
maceutical biotechnology companies are based in
Bavaria.

The right environment for industry Business success stories

If pharmaceutical biotechnology is to thrive, there are
These include what must be the most famous of all, the
certain things companies need: first class research insti-
Munich antibody specialist MorphoSys AG. Founded
tutions to act as development partners and generate in 1992, the company has a unique antibody library
spin-offs; local venture capitalists prepared to invest
which holds several billion complete human antibodies.
in the long-term; potential collaboration with majorMorphoSys uses this stock to develop active thera-
pharmaceutical businesses and, above all, political sup-
peutic ingredients for inhouse drug development, and
port. Bavaria offers conditions unique in Germany for
also grants licences to partner companies. The sheer
three of these four requirements. Munich, for example,
number of new therapeutics the company produces is
is home to nearly half of all German venture capitalquite simply incredible. MorphoSys is currently testing
companies and the State investment company Bayern- five new active ingredients in clinical trials – either on
Kapital provides young Bavarian biotech firms with its own or with partners from the pharmaceutical sec-
extremely high levels of risk capital compared to the
tor; another 30 (!) are almost at the clinical phase.
national norm. It also launched an additional fund of
MorphoSys’ ability to develop large numbers of new
30 million euros for start-ups in April 2009. A large pro-
active ingredients is due in part to collaboration with
portion of this venture capital is invested in local bio-
various renowned pharmaceutical companies inclu-
technology, and the Bavarian State Government has ding Roche, Eli Lilly and Pfizer. However, MorphoSys’
for many years been channelling significant sums into
most important partner is the Swiss company Novartis
Bavarian research. This has resulted in an extremelyAG. Novartis signed a strategic alliance with MorphoSys
successful and concentrated research environment – in early 2008 in which it agreed to provide over 600 mil-
above all around Munich, but also in Regensburg and lion US dollars over the next 10 years. MorphoSys is
Würzburg. The Max-Planck Institutes in particular, expecting turnover of 85 million euros for 2009 and
focussed on basic research, provide an important stimu-
planning investments in inhouse product and techno-
lus for the area through spin-offs or partnerships with
logy development work totalling up to 20 million euros.
existing companies. While MorphoSys can operate profitably thanks to
the scope of its development programmes alone and
Location policy: Bavaria leads the way has reliable turnover and profit forecasts for the com-
The result of all these measures? Nowhere in Germa- ing years, another Bavarian company – Medigene AG,
ny attracts as much venture capital, offers as many also from Munich – is hoping for a major partner-

6 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

ship deal with a pharmaceutical or biotechnology Number of newly established biotech companies
business in 2009. In just a few months’ time, Medigene in Bavaria
aims to have found a partner for the cancer drug Endo-
15
Tag. This ingredient is expected to generate billions and, 15
according to the company, already proved extremely
effective in a phase II study in mid-2008. Pfizer, Roche, 12
10
Eli Lilly and Amgen have all been cited in recent
months as interested in EndoTag. Even without Endo- 9
Tag, Medigene is already generating steady turnover
and has three drugs (licences acquired in late clinical 6
phases) on the market. Turn-over increased by 66% in 4

2008 to nearly 40 million euros. 3

Another company posting dynamic growth is the
Munich firm 4SC AG. It is currently carrying out clinical 0
2006 2007 2008
trials on active ingredients (one in phase II), and is
planning take up four more into the clinical phase in Source: Bavarian Biotechnology Cluster, Report 2008
the course of 2009. With what will be seven active in-

gredients in its project portfolio, 4SC AG is set to become
one of the leading companies on the German biotech powerful than the conventional monospecific antibodies
market.
Approval for the first drug “made in Bavaria”
Market launch may still be some way off for 4SC’s pro-
jects, but another Munich biotech firm Trion Pharma
GmbH celebrated a major success in April 2009. The
European marketing authorisation authority EMEA re-
cently approved Removab, a so-called trifunctional an-
tibody for fighting malignant ascites. The first biotech-
nological ingredient “made in Bavaria” will therefore
soon be on the market – researched, developed and
produced in Munich. Trion’s trifunctional antibodies,
which are also designed for other forms of cancer, are
true innovations in the biotech sector. They bond with
surface antigens on cancer cells and activate both T-cells
and accessory cells in the human immune system.
This mechanism makes them at least 1,000 times more
Drug pipeline in Bavaria in 2008
Number of drug candidates
Overview
already on the market which have proved extremely
effective in fighting cancer.
BioM key player
Many companies in Bavaria have one thing in com-
mon: they all benefit from the cluster management
company BioM. BioM is not an “ordinary” publicly
funded network company advising company founders
and young businesses: although it does offer these ser-
vices, BioM has an organisational structure unique
in Germany. It manages its own venture capital fund
through which it holds stakes in many Bavarian busines-
ses. Overall, BioM has invested a total of over 18 million
euros in recent years. It also recommends young firms
to the Bavarian public investment company Bayern-
Kapital which has in recent years invested over 140
million euros in high-tech Bavarian start-ups. This has
driven intense start-up activity in the area and attract-
ed many foreign companies, for example Roche,
GE Healthcare; Merck, Sharp&Dome, GlaxoSmith-
Kliine, Daiichi Sankyo..

100 97 Conclusion:
Biotechnology in Bavaria is clearly a resounding success,
80 success founded on concerted cooperation between
industry, politics and research. A look at the product
60 pipeline and upcoming announcements from some
Bavarian firms nevertheless suggests the area can hope
40 for even greater success in years to come. Much will
19 19 be decided in the immediate future. Positive news
20 would send out a particularly strong message in the
6 current economic crisis, now gradually beginning to
4
0 affect Bavarian companies’ finance.
Preclinic Phase I Phase II Phase III Approved
Gerhard Bönsch
Source: Bavarian Biotechnology Cluster, Report 2008 redaktion@vc-magazin.de

Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 7

 “The aim is and will continue to
occupy the top position in Europe”

Interview with the Bavarian

Economics Minister Martin Zeil

For years, the biotech site of Bavaria has been enjoying Where are its
a high level of attention from outside the state’s borders. possible weak-
Mathias Renz, Editor of VentureCapital Magazin, spoke nesses?
with the Bavarian Economics Minister Martin Zeil about
Overview

the history of biotechnology in Bavaria, site advantages Minister Zeil:

and future projects. The important
advantages in-
VC Magazin: The Free State of Bavaria invested in bio- clude the large
technology early on. How satisfied are you with the pool of highly-
present results? qualified per-
Minister Zeil: We look back on the development du- sonnel, the short
ring the last 20 years with a great deal of pride. Over distances bet-
the past 10 years alone, the Free State of Bavaria has ween all of the
invested over 500 million euros in the supporting of the partners, from Martin Zeil
life sciences. We have managed, among other things, science to in-
to fundamentally re-organise applied biological sci- dustry to us politicians. We can certainly always become
ence at the Bavarian college sites. This has laid the even better in this respect. With the biotechnology
foundation for the founding of around 200 new bio- cluster, however, we have a strong facilitator and pro-
technology companies to date, emerging from these re- vider of forward-looking solutions. What is striking about
search institutes. These new companies alone alrea- the successful settlement of branches of GE, Merck,
dy employ nearly 4,000 people. And this is increasing! Sharp & Dohme, GSK and Daiichi Sankyo and the
constant and massive expansion of Roche Diagnostics
VC Magazin: How competitive is Bavarian biotech- in Penzberg, is that these global players have chosen
nology in your opinion, compared with other sites in the Free State of Bavaria as an attractive location in
Germany and abroad? the tough global competition between biotech sites.
Minister Zeil: Within Germany, Bavaria is by far and
away in the lead as regards the number of biotechno- VC Magazin: Associations such as BioDeutschland are
logy companies and the number of medicines either in calling on politicians to bring about improvement in
development or approved on the market. It is also the economic, fiscal and regulatory general conditions
good to see that new momentum is coming into the as well as a harmonisation of legal regulations for all
founder scene again in Bavaria. In the past year, we fields of biotechnology. What measures are possible,
have recorded the founding of 15 new companies. in economically fraught times, for making Bavaria
Bavaria and especially the Munich region are very even more attractive as a biotech site?
recognised internationally and our companies have Minister Zeil: We are in the middle of a global economic
become attractive partners for the global players. We crisis, the duration of which cannot yet be accurately
compare well with other sites in Europe, even though predicted. Because of this, individual industries can-
Cambridge, Basel and Copenhagen/Lund are still cur- not be the priority for us, but instead fundamental
rently just ahead of us. The aim is and will continue tochanges that will make the occurrence of such a crisis
occupy the top position in Europe. less likely in future. Nevertheless, innovation and
research and the strengthening of the high-tech in-
VC Magazin: In your opinion, what are the most signifi- dustries are very major focuses for us, especially now.
cant site advantages of the biotech region Bavaria? With our “Initiative BayernFIT“, we will invest 1.7 billion

8 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

euros into education, research and technology within biotech medication approved. Companies such as
four years. This programme is also coming at the rightMorphoSys and Medigene impress me with their steady,
time as regards economic policy and will create the calm but extremely successful development into impor-
conditions for emerging from this crisis stronger. tant biopharmaceuticals companies. The importance
of the global players I have already named is also not
VC Magazin: Which Bavarian biotech company has to be underestimated.
particularly impressed you during the past few years?
Minister Zeil: As a minister, one must always remain mathias.renz@vc-magazin.de
neutral on such matters. I am impressed by very many
courageous and innovative entrepreneurs in the Bava-
rian biotechnology companies. If I now pick out two About the interviewee
companies, it is not so much because others have not
also been impressive. I was pleased that the company Martin Zeil is Bavarian State Minister of Economic
TrionPharma has had the first “genuine“ Bavarian Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology.

Overview
Biotech-Cluster Bavaria: facts & figures

Fig. 1: Biotech/pharma companies in bavaria Fig. 3: Number of Employees in the biotech SMEs
156 in bavaria (2005)
Biotech companies
157
(SMEs)
164 Therapeutics/
1.8
Biotech companies 25 Diagnostics
(non-SMEs) 27
29 Agriculture, Food,
140
Environment
54
CROs 57
Bioinformatics 177
59
36
Pharma companies 34 Devices/Reagents 764
35
DNA-/Protein-
30 137
Suppliers /CMOs 30 Analysis
32
Preclinical Services 103
number of companies 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

2006 (total: 301) 2007 (total: 305) 2008 (total: 319) number of employees 0 400 800 1.200 1.600 2.000

Source: Cluster Biotechnology Bavaria, Report 2008 Source: Cluster Biotechnology Bavaria, Report 2008

Fig. 2: Cooperations and Deals 2008

Announcement
MBC Firma/Bayer. Firma Cooperation Partner of Cooperation Type of Cooperation

Scil Pfizer Jan 08 Pfizer and Scil finalize agreement for novel cartilage growth factor

Kinaxo Takeda Apr 08 KINAXOBiotechnologies Enters Agreement with Takeda

Geneart National Cancer Institute Apr 08 The US National Cancer Institute Extends its Contract with GENEART Ò
Order Volume 1.9 million US dollars

Scil Medtronic Apr 08 Medtronic and Scil Technology Establish Partnership for Dental Bone
Regeneration Therapies

Geneart Qiagen May 08 QIAGEN and GENEART Partner to Commercialize Synthetic

Mammalian Genes

4SC Nycomed Jun08 4SC to acquire Nycomed oncology projects

Wilex IBA Jun 08 WILEX and IBA enter into worldwide marketing, distribution and sales
agreement on REDECTANE (CA9-SCAN)

MediGene Galderma Jul 08 MediGene Sells Licensee Rights to the Drug Oracea to Galderma

MorphoSys AG Galapagos Nov 08 MorphoSys and Galapagos Enter Alliance to Co-develop Novel Therapeutic
Antibodies in Bone and Joint Disease

Cellmed AG Astra Zeneca Dec 08 Development of Diabetes II drug leads to 318 million euros in milestone payments

Source: Cluster Biotechnology Bavaria, Report 2008

Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 9

 “The stability of our companies in hard
times shows their superb quality”
Interview with Prof. Dr. Horst Domdey

In the middle of the nineties, the Federal Government initiat- VC Magazin: Where do
ed the establishing of the biotechnology industry in Ger- you see Bavaria as a site
many by organising the “BioRegio Competition”. Now, a in 10 years?
profitable branch of industry has grown out of this, the me- Domdey: The stability of
thods of which are used in all industries such as pharma- our companies in hard
ceuticals, chemistry, health, and environmental and energy times shows their superb
Overview

technology. Prof. Horst Domdey has accompanied the deve- quality. Of course I am
lopment of biotechnology in Germany up close. He spoke not able to predict the fu-
with Mathias Renz of VentureCapital Magazin about the ture, so I can only hope Prof. Dr. Horst Domdey
past and future of biotechnology in Bavaria. for a positive develop-
ment, which is justified on the basis of the current de-
VC Magazin: The Free State of Bavaria recognised bio- velopments. Based upon these, one might predict that in
technology as a future industry early on. What measures 2019 the number of biotech companies will have increased
by the State Government had and now have the biggest by 20-40%, the number of employees by 100%, and the
influence on Bavaria as a site for biotech? revenues by 400% – resulting from some 20 approved
Domdey: In the past many people assumed that the state drugs.
of Bavaria had poured hundreds of millions of euros into
this new high-tech industry. But that was not the case. VC Magazin: Can we expect new biotech products from
Instead, the Bavarian Government supported the corres- Bavaria to be approved in 2009, and if so which?
ponding academic science and technology with huge Domdey: We are very proud that a very innovative
amounts of money, i.e., this money did not go into the product, Removab®, has been approved by the European
biotech industry but into the academic life science insti- authorities very recently. Removab®, an anticancer anti-
tutes. These institutes and their scientists then became body developed by Trion Pharma together with Fresenius
the solid basis for the high number of excellent spin-offs Biotech, has a very specific molecular structure which is
which now form the pillars of the exceptionally strong supposed to make it much more powerful compared to
and successful Bavarian biotech industry. “classical” antibodies. It is expected that the European
approval will also be granted for MediGene’s Veregen this
VC Magazin: What distinguishes Bavaria from other year, while this drug is already being marketed in the US.
German biotech sites such as Baden-Württemberg and
Berlin? VC Magazin: What challenges does the current economic
Domdey: Interestingly, it was Bavaria where scientists crisis bring for Bavaria as a biotech site?
from universities and other institutes started first to Domdey: The challenges are probably the same as
commercialize their scientific accomplishments. And it everywhere. Our biotech industry, however, is not ask-
was also in Bavaria that these ideas covered mainly the ing for a specific biotech emergency parachute. What
field of therapeutics, and partly also diagnostics. Due to we need are fair tax conditions, compared to other
this, many companies were already founded before the European countries, and as soon as we have them, the
“BioRegio Competition” started in 1995, and could there- private investors will do the rest of the job. And due to
fore also reach a comparatively mature stage before the some very good financing rounds we had in 2008,
well-known decline of the New Market at the beginning of financing as such will not be the biggest problem in
this decade. More than 2.5 billion euros of private money 2009. We do of course hope that investors with big
have been invested in the Bavarian biotechnology indus- wallets will be back by 2010. On the other hand we
try. Therefore it is not astonishing that the only TecDax have to expect difficulties for some of the biotech
listed biotech companies are located in Bavaria and the service providers already during this year. They will
only Nasdaq-listed ones as well. probably suffer from the current conditions, but they

10 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

managed to get through the first survival crisis at the Domdey: Our organization has – at least Germany-wide –
beginning of this decade, so why shouldn’t they be the longest experience in how to manage a biotech clus-
able to cope with the second one! ter. We can even say that this experience is already 25
years old, because the first Munich life science cluster
VC Magazin: The financing of young biotech companies started back in 1984 with the founding of the Munich
always represents a great challenge. What is the current Gene Center in which more than 20 academic research
situation like in Bavaria? groups started to cooperate not only with each other but
Domdey: The financing of young start-up companies is also with three industrial partners who gave substantial
actually pretty good. We have a number of effective pre- support to this very successful cooperation project.
seed programs; we have the (Federal) Hightech-Foun- Another big difference is that BioM had the chance to not
ders Fund and the (Bavarian) Seed Fund, so that the num- only give advice to possible and potential company foun-
ber of newly started companies has been constantly ders but also to provide them with the first financing
increasing during the past few years. On the other hand, which is absolutely crucial for the majority of the founda-
there are not enough “instruments” on the market for the tions. BioM can therefore call itself a really “integrated clus-
first real VC round. What could help here, would be a fund ter management organization” which is not only profiting
of funds comparable to the one we now see in the UK. from the success stories of the cluster but is also sharing
the risks of the companies in the region. BioM is therefore

VC Magazin: For two years, BioM has not only been look- sitting in the same boat with the local industry.
ing after just the Munich site, but instead all of the other
biotech clusters in Bavaria as well. How has this changed VC Magazin: Thank you very much for the interview.
your work?
Domdey: Due to this extra task, we have not only broaden-
ed our daily work, but have also been able to address a
number of specific questions for which we did not have
the personal equipment before. So we are not only con-
necting the activities of the different biotech centres in
Bavaria, but have also launched a new and very promis-
ing activity in the field of industrial biotechnology, we
have initiated and continue to support a process which
will connect the expertise and know-how of an increasing
number of expert Bavarian clinical study centres, and,
last but not least, we have started a new concept and
strategy for the improvement of technology transfer.
VC Magazin: What distinguishes BioM from other cluster
management companies?
Overview
mathias.renz@vc-magazin.de
About the interviewee
Prof. Dr. Horst Domdey is the President of BioM AG
and Managing Director of BioM Biotech Cluster Deve-
lopment GmbH, Martinsried, as well as Spokesman of
“Cluster Biotechnologie Bayern”, part of the Bavarian
Cluster initiative of the Bavarian State Government.
In addition to this he is also a member of the research
committee of the DIHT and Scientific Director of the
Bavarian genome research network BayGene. Since
1998 he has been teaching as an Honorary Professor
for Biochemistry at LMU Munich.
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 MediGene AG
MediGene is the first German biotech company to
have drugs on the market, which are being distribut-
ed by partner companies. MediGene has several
drug candidates in clinical development, including
EndoTAG™-1 which could offer substantial sales re-
turns. In addition, the company has numerous pro-
Overview
The publicly listed MediGene AG has 130 employees and two subsidiaries.
Micromet AG
Micromet AG was founded in 1993 as a spin-off from
the Institute for Immunology, Munich University,
Germany. Micromet is a biotechnology company
focussing on the research and development of anti-
bodies for
the treat-
ment and
control of
cancer, in-
flammation, and autoimmune diseases. Using its anti-
body technology platforms, Micromet strives to
create new drugs that are highly specific, effective
and well tolerated in patients. In cancer, these drugs
precisely target and destroy tumor cells. In the case
of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, they
either trap key signalling molecules or eliminate
subpopulations of immune cells that cause acute
and chronic inflammation.
The company currently has four candidates, adeca-
tumumab (MT201), MT293 (TRC093), MT110 and
blinatumomab (MT103), in clinical trials against
major cancer indications, including metastatic
breast cancer and relapsed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
(NHL). In addition, Micromet’s pipeline includes a
number of preclinical drug candidates and several
12 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
jects in research and pre-clinical development and
possesses innovative platform technologies. Medi-
Gene focuses on the research and development of
novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoim-
mune diseases.
In addition, the
company has
numerous pro-
jects in research
and pre-clinical development and possesses innova-
tive platform technologies. MediGene focuses on the
research and development of novel drugs for the
treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The
company was founded in 1994 as a Munich Gene
Center spin-off. Today, the Munich based MediGene
AG is a publicly listed biotechnology company with
about 130 employees and subsidiaries in Oxford, UK
and San Diego, USA.
MediGene’s strategic goal is to integrate all core are-
as of modern drug development into the company,
from research on novel therapeutic concepts to the
development and marketing of drugs.
compounds at research stage. The Company has
strategic collaborations or license agreements with
MedImmune, Merck Serono, Morphotek, Nycomed
and TRACON Pharmaceuticals. Micromet's goal is to
build a well-staged pipeline of highly differentiated
products for the treatment of cancer, inflammation,
and autoimmune diseases.
Micromet is a biotechnology company focused on the research and develop-
ment of antibodies for the treatment and control of cancer, inflammation, and
autoimmune diseases.
“Today’s entrepreneurs face much
more favourable conditions”
Interview with Dr. Simon Moroney, founder and
CEO of MorphoSys
The biotech company MorphoSys ranks among the biggest perspective today’s en-
businesses in this sector. Founder and CEO Dr. Simon trepreneurs face much
Moroney talks about his early days in Martinsried. more favourable condi-
tions. In terms of things
VC Magazin: MorphoSys was founded in 1992. Which that could be improved, I
location factors determined the decision at that time would point to the need Dr. Simon Moroney

Overview
for Bavaria and especially Munich? for a different political
Moroney: In those early days of the company, the close approach to how financial losses are handled in re-
interaction with our co-founder Prof. Andreas Plück- search-stage companies. We, a selection of entrepreneurs
thun was very important and one of our main consid- and finance experts from the German biotech sector in
erations. At that time, he worked at the Max Planck collaboration with the industry association Bio-
Institute of Biochemistry for Martinsried before mov- Deutschland, addressed this topic in an open letter to
ing on to Switzerland. So the choice we made to found Chancellor Merkel just recently. Additionally, we suggest
MorphoSys in Munich was a rather simple one, and tax credits for expenditure on research and development
was based on proximity to our co-founder and his lab. in small companies, to bring Germany into line with
standard practice in several other European countries.
VC Magazin: After a few years at the local innovation
centre IZB you moved into larger premises. Why did VC Magazin: What kind of news can we expect from
you choose a new building only a stone's throw away MorphoSys within the next 12 months?
from your old location? Moroney: MorphoSys is committed to building a world-
Moroney: Many positive developments were taking leading therapeutic antibody pipeline both through acti-
place at that time in Martinsried. The local government vities with partners and increasingly through proprietary
was actively promoting the sector and there was a developments. Our most advanced proprietary com-
huge number of new companies being founded in the pound will move into a phase Ib/IIa trial in the second
area. Overall, there was a common feeling that Martins- half of the year and we expect a further two to four pro-
ried was the place-to-be for biotech in Bavaria, if not grams with partners to advance into phase I clinical trials.
in Germany, and for that reason we were glad to find a Beyond these activities, we constantly strive to tap new
suitable facility in close proximity to the IZB. growth opportunities in both of our business segments.
I wouldn’t rule out that this will also translate into additio-
VC Magazin: In hindsight – would you rather have nal news flow during the course of 2009. MorphoSys has
acted differently while at the innovation centre or made great strides forward in each of the last few years,
would you do precisely the same? and I don’t expect 2009 to be any different in this regard.
Moroney: There is very little that we would do differently.
The decisions we made then helped bring us to today’s VC Magazin: Thanks for the interview!
position as a leading biotech company in Europe.
torsten.passmann@vc-magazin.de
VC Magazin: If you analyse the current situation for biotech
founders in Bavaria, what is better compared to the early
days of MorphoSys? Is there anything you would improve? About the interviewee
Moroney: When we founded the company back in 1992
there was no noteworthy biotech industry in Germany Dr. Simon Moroney is founder and CEO of Mor-
and only fragments of the infrastructure today’s foun- phoSys. The Munich-based company is one of the
ders can potentially rely on. The political climate for world’s leading biotechnology companies focusing
biotech in general was a disaster at that time. From this on fully human antibodies.

Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 13

 Trion Pharma and Trion Research
Trion Pharma is a privately held biopharmaceutical
company that has established a new kind of approach to
cancer immunotherapy. The company’s unique fami-
ly of trifunctional antibodies, called Triomab, simul-
taneously activates multiple immune defense me-
chanisms against cancer. As a result, tumor cells are
specifically destroyed with unprecedented poten-
cy and precision. Moreover, the patient’s immune
system seems to emerge from Triomab treatment
with improved, long-term cancer immunity – an effect
that can otherwise only be achieved through vacci-
nation. In 2009, Removab (catumaxumab), the most
advanced candidate of the Triomab family, received
EU market approval for the intaperitoneal treatment
Overview
of malignant ascites. Early on, Trion Pharma entered
into a collaboration with Fresenius Biotech for the
development of three Triomab candidates.
History
Triomab development dates back to the 1990s
with the pioneering work of Trion founder Horst
Viewpoint
City of Munich offers fertile ground for the
life sciences industry
By the early 1990s, a clinical research team at the
department of gynaecology at the Klinikum rechts der
Isar (university hospital at the Technical University of
Munich) had focused its research on developing
cancer therapy approaches to specifically inhibit
metastasis – and thus to block the deadly spread of
cancer. The team won the first Munich Business Plan
Competition in 1996/97 and subsequently founded
WILEX.
Like many other young and innovative companies,
WILEX also received support from the activities of
BioM – who expanded Munich's Biotech Cluster into a
centre for the biotech industry. Thanks to the Bavarian
government's early focus on regional promotion and
innovation and its close collaboration with research
institutions, companies have enjoyed attractive condi-
tions when basing their businesses in Bavaria. With
just under 70 biotech and pharmaceutical companies,
Munich is a key location both in Germany and Europe.
14 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
Lindhofer and his team at the Helmholtz Zentrum
Munich, Germany. In 1998, Lindhofer decided to
set up two sister companies – Trion Research
and Trion Pharma – in order to develop his new
approach to its full potential and make therapeu-
tics available to cancer patients. While the smaller
entity, Trion Research, focuses on the generation
of new Triomab candi dates and clinical analytics,
Trion Pharma manages process development and
in-house GMP manufacturing, and is actively
involv ed in clinical development. Intellectual
property rights relating to Triomab were exclu -
sively licensed from the Helmholtz Zentrum
Munich at the time of Trion’s foundation, and
have since been continuously expanded by the
company to include, for example, design and pro-
duction, individual candidates and correspond-
ing analytics.
Today, Trion Pharma employs a staff of about 130.
Trion Research currently has a team of eleven
employees.
Being based in Munich
was especially helpful
during the start-up pe-
riod. Contact with ven-
ture capital companies
and investors also
landed the Company a
number of key share-
holders, such as Apax, Prof. Dr. Olaf G. Wilhelm, CEO, WILEX AG,
TVM and Earlybird. WI- Munich
LEX raised a total of 68
million euros through various private financing initia-
tives and its IPO in November 2006 added a further 55
million euros. Today, the company is at an advanced
stage, with two products in phase III clinical trials with
a monoclonal antibody and one product in a phase II
programme with an upA inhibitor. Munich is not only
a highly attractive location for WILEX’s 66 highly quali-
fied staff members, but has also served as a powerful
recruitment incentive.
 GRÜNDERINITIATIVE • LIFE SCIENCE • CHEMIE

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 Freising

Munich
Martinsried
The cradle of Biotechnology
Munich is Germany’s most important Biotech-Regiob
Muncih Biotech-Region
Southern Bavaria/IZB

It is an inviting place; one can go hiking in the Alps or sailing Hanns Zobel, the Managing Director of the IZB. “These
on the many lakes, or enjoy a pleasant beer in one of the are newly founded companies, they are very dynamic
countless beer gardens. The south of Bavaria is lovely and and with their differences they stand for the diversity
the most popular tourist destination in Germany. If one recog- of the cluster”, he explains. Coriolis PharmaService, a
nizes brewery as the starting point of biotechnology the spin-off of the chair for Pharmaceutical Technology of
cradle of this technology lies in Bavaria with Weihenstephan the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität Munich, carries out
being the first brewery in the world almost 1000 years ago. formulation development for bio-pharmaceutical ma-
The most important destination for scientists and entrepre- terials for customers in the pharmaceuticals and bio-
neurs in the field of modern biotechnology also lies in the
south of Germany. Since the middle of the 90s, the metro- Life Sciences Site Upper Bavaria
politan region of Munich has risen to become the most impor- Number of Employees Turnover in
Companies million euros
tant national biotech cluster. Favourable location factors and
Biotech, Small-Medium 127 2,670 388
a skilful support policy have made this development possible.
Biotech, not Small-Medium 23 5,400 2,435

Exemplary biotech network Pharmaceutical Companies 55 7,600 3,725

With a fine instinct for future-capable technologies, the Contract Research 53 1,700 120
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Organization (CRO)
created two biotech initiatives in the middle of the 90s. Other 127 4,500 3,850
With their focus on cluster formation they were intended Total 385 21,870 10,518
to strengthen local biotechnology and make a decisive Source: BioM Survey 2008

contribution to its commercialisation. A total of 17

applicants lined up for the first BioRegio competition,tech industry as a research-oriented service-providing
and three model regions were selected – including company. Amsilk specialises in the production of a natu-
ral high-tech fibre. Spider silk has greater tensile strength
Munich. At a stroke, a good 25 million euros in subsidies
became available. Now, 13 years later, the Martinsried than steel and is at the same time more elastic than rub-
ber – and as the only supplier to date this newly founded
site in particular – located in the southwest of Munich –
company of the Technische Universität München is able
has developed into one of the leading biotech centres. A
number of renowned research institutions with inter- to manufacture the necessary protein in kilograms. Kinaxo
national reputations are weaving an exemplary biotech- Biotechnologies is a good example of the efficiency of the
nology network here: including two Max-Planck insti- cluster-forming instigated in 1996. The start-up has its
tutes, a Helmholtz Centre, three institutes of the Lud- roots in the Max-Planck Institute
wig-Maximilian-Universität Munich and the university for Biochemistry in Martinsried
hospital. The centre of this impressive campus ist he and carries out the commercial
Innovation and Founding Center for Biology (IZB) where application of the research work
since 1995 more than 80 biotech start ups began and done there: Kinaxo supports
remain loyal to the region as they grow. At the moment pharmaceutical and biotech
55 companies are settled on 20,000 squaremeters, further companies by efficiently and
3,200 squarmeters will be opened in 2010. selectively improving the thera-
peutic characteristics of a sub-
A varied spectrum of solutions stance. “These three start-ups
Three “completely typical representatives of the site” Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, also clearly indicate the varied
Managing director IZB Martins-
are Coriolis, Kinaxo and Amsilk, enthuses Dr. Peter ried and Weihenstehan sources of money that founders

16 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

 The HRO-Guide
to Doing Business
in Germany

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 can tap into”, explains Zobel. Kinaxo is financed by Busi-
ness Angels, and the state’s fund for founding high-tech
businesses, Coriolis, makes use of public subsidies such
as the “EXIST” business start-up grants of the Federal
Ministry of Economics, and behind Amsilk are venture
capital companies such as AT Newtec and MIG-Fonds.
Southern Bavaria/IZB
Weihenstephan. At this site, which was opened at the
end of 2001, 40 km north-east of Munich similarly favour-
able conditions prevail: instead of Ludwig-Maximilian-
Universität, there is the TUM Technische Universität
München, instead of Max-Planck institutes, Fraunhofer
institutes have settled here, and there is also a technical
college that specialises in food technology. “A good two

High concentration of investors thirds of the founders in Weihenstephan come from

“The numerous venture capital companies are also the TUM. Because of course it is attractive when one’s
among the major growth drivers and most important former professor is only two streets away and can be
site factors”, says Roman Huber, Managing Director of asked quickly and personally for advice”, remarks
the state investment fund Bayern Kapital. The track re- Zobel. The close networking of founders, research in-
cord of his company includes, among others, Morpho- stitutes and investors is also reflected in hard figures:
Sys, which in 1999 became the first biotech company in the past year 439.5 million euros were invested in
to be floated on the stock exchange, and Medigene, seed and start-up companies in the whole of Germany.
which in 2004 was the first biotech company to bring a Divided up into sectors, 24% of this went to life
medicine onto the market. “Many investors take a sciences, and divided by region 27% went to Bavaria.
share in such successes”, he reports from his experi- Suppremol is an example of the high performance of
ences. And the metropolitan region is blessed in this the cluster; this company is a spin-off of a Max-Planck
respect – Munich is regarded as the German VC capital. institute that in 2008 received “B” round financing of
Local investors include, among others, TVM Capital, 15.7 million euros. Also in the second round of finan-
which have already been active since 1983, Global Life cing, Pieris gathered a further 25 million euros of equity
Science Ventures (GLSV), who concentrate exclusively capital in the spring of 2008.
upon life sciences, LSP Life Sciences Partners (investor
in Qiagen, Europe’s largest biotech company), Welling- Capital market has confidence in founders
ton Partners, Atlas Venture, and BayTech. “Biotech As well as venture capital investors and public funding,
needs a lot of money, which is why VCs have to syndi-
the founders are tapping another important source of
cate. Thanks to the high concentration of investors, it is
capital – the stock exchange. In addition to pioneers like
possible to get to know each other at many projects MorphoSys, for example, 4SC is also listed and the
and events and to build up trust in each other”, summa-
company has been registered in the Prime Standard of
rises Huber. The founders also benefit from the short
the German stock exchange since the end of 2005.
distance between the cluster and the investors: “The“Such stories show that a good basis can be created in
exchange is more intensive when the investors only the metropolitan region, when the capital market also
need an underground rail trip instead of a flight”, adds
has confidence in our founders”, says Huber of Bayern
Zobel from the IZB. Kapital cheerfully. Beyond this, the site has also
gained an international reputation. For example, the
Weihenstephan – second incubator in the north company Emergent Biosolutions based in the US state
For a good seven years now, there has been a second of Maryland has decided to set up a branch in Munich,
attractive center of IZB, in the shape of Freising- in order to facilitate sales in Europe and Asia.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is a biopharmaceutical com- tration for the prevention of anthrax. Emergent’s
pany focussing on the development, manufacture and development pipeline includes programs focused on
commercialization of vaccines and therapeutics that as- anthrax, botulism, tuberculosis, typhoid, hepatitis B
sist the body’s and chlamydia. Through the acquisition of Munich-
immune system Martinsried-based Vivacs GmbH in 2006, Emergent
to prevent or BioSolutions – which already had an existing sales
treat disease. and marketing presence in Munich – has added pro-
Emergent’s mar- duct development capability to its German operations.
keted product, The acquisition provided Emergent Biosolutions with
BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), is the only access to the modified vaccinia ankara (MVA) viral
vaccine licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Adminis- vector MVAtor™ for injectable vaccines.

18 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

 Suppremol GmbH
Suppremol GmbH is a privately financed biopharma-
ceutical company based in Martinsried, which spe-
cialises in the development of new medicines for the
treatment of autoimmune diseases. The company is
on the cutting
edge of the de-
velopment of
soluble sFcRs,
re c o m b i n a n t
versions of the
body’s own
proteins, which can suppress certain reactions of
the immune system very effectively. Suppremol is
planning the development of sFcRs for the treatment
Conclusion:
Thanks to a skilful business-support policy, the state
has successfully developed the metropolitan region of
Munich into one of the leading biotech sites. The basis
for this were the “natural” resources needed for such a
task: renowned research institutions, the IZBs offering
scientists best infrastructure to start their business as
well as daring investors, who also provide the neces-
of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), sys-
temic lupus erythematodes, rheumatoid arthritis
and other autoimmune diseases. The product is first
of all to be developed in Orphan Drug indications,
and then to be clinically tested in connection with
Southern Bavaria/IZB
other illnesses with “blockbuster markets“ such as
systemic lupus erythematodes and rheumatoid ar-
thritis. The concern was founded in 2002 at the Max-
Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, as a
spin-off of the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Robert Huber,
the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1988.
Suppremol received its first financing in October
2005 from Z-Cube, a venture capital company of the
Zambon-Pharma Group in Milan, Italy.
sary capital. With the concentration of so many im-
portant factors into such a small space, the current
generation of founders should also be able to write
success stories, like the go-getters of the early days of
Bavarian biotechnology.
torsten.passmann@vc-magazin.de
Advert
 Case Study
Proteros biostructures GmbH
If medicines are the key to fighting diseases, then pro- teros has a large catalogue of ready-to-use target mole-
teins are the lock that must be opened to make this cules for the analysis of complex structures with sub-
Southern Bavaria/IZB

possible. And to make sure that the key fits, they have
to be examined extremely precisely. This examination
can be carried out using, for example, the three-dimen-
sional x-ray structural analysis of Proteros biostruc-
tures GmbH. Using the findings obtained from this pro-
cess, active substances can be developed in a more
targeted way.
An accurate picture
For this, Proteros makes use of a technology that was
developed by Nobel Prize winner Prof. Robert Huber
based upon 30 years of research. With this technology
the company has a unique selling point against compe-
titors. Founded in 1998, it already has more than 40
customers from the pharmaceutical, agrochemical
and biotechnological industry. In addition to this, Pro-
stances from the customers, for tailored gene-to-struc-
ture and structure optimisation projects. In addition,
the customers are offered tailor-made proteins for pri-
mary and secondary screening as well as analyses of
substance-target interaction.
BayBG on board
Proteros was also the winner of the Munich Business
Plan Competition. BayBG financed the founding of the
company and remains the most important investor. In
the second round of financing, in 2007, 1 million euros
was invested in the company, which made possible
another 4.2 million euros in financing and subsidies.
The intention is now to open up new markets and ex-
tend the range of products, said Dr. Torsten Neuefeind,
co-founder and managing director of Proteros.

Case Study
Pieris AG
The jury of the Munich Business Plan Competition advantage. They can thus, for example, reach the
made the right choice in 2000 when it selected the bloodstream via the lungs and are therefore suitable
founding team of Pieris AG – a substance developer – for inhalers. Pieris develops and markets these modi-
as the winner. In July 2008, the company achieved fied lipocalins under the name Anticalins. In summer,
another milestone in the development of medicines. the company reported that Wacker Biotech GmbH, a full-
service active substance manufacturer, has confirmed
Mini-Antibodies the scalability of the Anticalins and will take over pro-
The basis of the company is research work in the field duction of the active substance.
of lipocalins. These proteins bind molecules and also
have a transporting function. They can be modified so A good year
that they can promote desired reactions or inhibit In March 2008, Pieris already had good news to announce:
undesirable ones. They are only a seventh of the size OrbiMed Advisors, the world’s biggest investor in
of monoclonal antibodies, which represents a substantial the healthcare field, had been won over as lead investor
in the B-round of financing, with an investment of 25 mil-
lion euros. This had been preceded by seed-financing in
2001 and series A financing in the year after, which
brought in over 12 million euros. Investors included Glo-
bal Life Science Ventures (GLSV), Baytech Venture, BioM
and Gilde Health Care Partners from the Netherlands. All
the investors also participated in the follow-up financing
of the company (series A1) in 2006, and are also taking
part in the present round of financing. As well as Orbi-
Med Advisors, another new investor added to the list
is Novo Nordisk A/S, via its Novo Nordisk Biotech
The basis of Pieris is research work in the field of lipocalins. Fund.

20 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

 “We would love to stay in the IZB”

Interview with Dr. Ulrich Dauer, CEO of 4SC AG

4SC AG was founded in 1997 as a spin-off of the Univer-
sity of Würzburg. In 1999, one of the founders, Dr. Ulrich
Dauer, with three other employees, located to the Mar-
tinsried Innovation and Startup Center (IZB). The com-
pany has been listed on the stock exchange since 2006.
VC Magazin: In 1999, what were the reasons in favour
of locating to the Innovation and Startup Center in
Martinsried?
Dauer: Back then, we looked at various so-called inno-
vation, startup and incubation centres. To put it briefly;
the red carpet here in Martinsried was simply the widest.
By that I mean the equipment at the laboratories, the
presence of venture capital investors and also the
commitment that we felt on the political side. At that
time, Bayernkapital was already an active investor, as
well as tbg. But the main reason was certainly the net-
work that we found already at the IZB, including the
proximity to academic institutions such as the Max-
Plank Institute and the universities.
VC Magazin: Many companies see startup and tech-
nology centres as temporary headquarters due to the
Southern Bavaria/IZB
limited amount of
space available. What
are your plans for the
future?
Dauer: Another section
of construction is cur- Dr. Ulrich Dauer
rently being planned, a
building complex that will be built directly onto the
fourth section. We would like to be considered for in-
clusion in this. On the other hand, we also understand
that the actual purpose of an incubation centre is to
help companies to reach certain stages and when
these are reached for them to make space again for
younger companies. Nevertheless, it is perhaps also
pleasant for the management of the IZB, with whom
we have good links, if – in the shape of 4SC – they
have a lasting tenant that can be relied upon over the
longer term and that creates added value. We are
thus offering smaller firms the option of coaching
and unbureaucratic access to our network. On the
whole, we would love to stay in the IZB, but we would
also manage if they say that space has to be freed up
in the long term.
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 Aspects of Biotechnology Patenting
in Europe

Dr. Andrea Schüssler, German and European Patent +Trademark

Attorney, Huber & Schüssler Attorneys, Munich

The protection of biotechnology inventions has become more “WARF Stem Cell Patent” relates to cultures comprising
effective and harmonized throughout the European Member primate (including human) embryonic cell cultures. The
States by the directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliamentclaims of the application are directed to the cultures
on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological inventions. themselves, rather than to a method of generating these
Although the European Patent Office as a supranational ad- cultures. However, the method for the generation of
these cultures requires the dissociation of a pre-implantati-
ministrative body is not bound by EU directives, the European
Patent Office’s law (the European Patent Convention (EPC)),on embryo (a supernumerary embryo from an IVF proce-
Legal

dure). Considering the EPC and the Biotechnology Direc-

is also using this Directive as the basis for granting patents in
the biotechnology field and has amended its implementing tive, the EBA decided to exclude such inventions from
regulations to conform with the Directive. patentability. Finally, it was confirmed that it is not of
relevance that after the filing date the same products
Most of the few exceptions to patentability concern the could be obtained without having to use a method
technical field of biotechnology. The EPC contains in Art. necessarily involving the destruction of human embryos.
53 the exclusion that inventions shall be considered un-
patentable where their commercial exploitation would Second medical use claims
be contrary to the “order public” or morality. On this An important amendment effected by EPC2000 (came
basis the following is considered to be unpatentable: into force on December 13, 2007) was the incorpo-
N processes for cloning human beings; ration of Article 54(5):
N processes for modifying the germ line genetic iden- N “Paragraphs 2 and 3 [of Art. 54] shall also not ex-
tity of human beings; clude the patentability of any substances or compo-
N uses of human embryos for industrial or commer- sitions referred to in paragraph 4 for any specific
cial purposes; use in any method referred to in Article 53 (c),
N processes for modifying the genetic identity of ani- provided that such use is not comprised in the state
mals which are likely to cause them suffering without of the art.” (emphasis added)
any substantial medical benefit to man or animal, and
also animals resulting from such processes. Based on this reformulated legal background, second
medical use claims after the advent of EPC2000 will
Further exclusions mentioned in Art. 53 EPC: also be available in the form of purposes-limited com-
N plant and animal varieties pound claims, e.g.:
N essentially biological processes for the production N “Compound X for treating disease Y”, or
of plants or animal N “Pharmaceutical compositions for treating of
preventing disease Y comprising compound X”
Stem cell patenting
One important recent decision of the EPO’s Enlarged Dosis Regimen
Board of Appeals (EBA) with regard to the exclusion of In a recent decision, the EP Technical Board of Appeal
“uses of human embryos for industrial and commercial referred three questions under the case number G 2/08
purposes” concerns the patentability of stem cells. The to the EBA. This pending case shall bring a clarifi-
decision confirms that EPC forbids the patenting of cation of the patentability issues concerning second
claims directed to products which, at the filing date of and further medical indications, in particular under
the application, could be prepared exclusively by a me- the revised EPC2000.
thod which involves the destruction of a human embryo, The first question centres on the patentability of
even if the method is not part of the claims. The so-called a new treatment, where both the substance used

22 Special ”Biotech-Cluster Bavaria“

and the illness are the same as in the prior art. While
the third question supplements the first by enquir- About the Author
ing in more general terms about the interpretation
principles to be taken into account when applying the Dr. Andrea Schüssler
relevant provisions of Articles 54(5) and 53(c) EPC, qualified as a German Pa-
the second question is concerned with the tent Attorney in 1994 and
patentability of second medical use claims distin- as a European Patent At-
guished from the prior art solely by the dosage torney in 1995. She has
regime used. worked for Huber &
Schüssler since 1996.
The term “dosage regime” may comprise several situ- Her current practice in-
ations, for example volves work in the field
N different dosage, different quantity and/or frequency of intellectual property
N different duration law. She is experienced
N different schedule of administration in infringement litigation
N different chronological order/course of adminis- concerning patents, utility models, and in competi-

Legal
tration tion law. Her technical speciality is in the fields of
N different timing biochemistry and biotechnology, e.g. immunology,
plant biology, molecular genetics, cancer research,
The G 2/08 decision is expected for late 2009. human gene research, and virology.

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David against Goliath
East Bavarian biotechnology steps out from
under Munich’s shadow
The mammoth name “Biotech Cluster Bio Regio Regens-
burg” refers to an area in the three-nation triangle bet-
Eastern Bavaria
ween Regensburg, Austria, and the Czech Republic. In the
course of the past few years, this area has become the
second-biggest biotech region in Bavaria, currently with
40 firms in the field of life science and 2,400 employees.
Life science made in East Bavaria
While the Bavarian showcase cluster in and around
the fixed point of Munich has already long since be-
come well-known as an international top address for bio-
technology, the traditionally agricultural East Bavaria
has to – and has had to – fight intensely for subsidies.
Led by the cities of Regensburg and Straubing, the re-
gion is preparing to make a name for itself as a life sci-
ences region beyond the limits of Bavaria. The found-
ing of BioPark Regensburg as an administrative centre
and regional stronghold for biotechnology companies
was the foundation stone for this development.
Lateral thinking
After settlement and founding successes at around the turn
of the millennium and the expansion of the building
complex located close to a university, the individual fields
began to be connected, leading to synergy effects. In 2007,
this strategy was extended and a network was created for
the whole of East Bavaria, with biotechnology acting as a
catalyst for multidisciplinary work. This intersection bet-
Antisense Pharma: breakthrough by the Danube?
Founded in 1998, Antisense Pharma started business
in Regensburg just as the BioPark era began. The firm
which started out with four researchers and premises
of just 125m2 is now a well-established international
biopharmaceutical company. Its unique selling point
is antisense technology: patented active ingredients
prevent the formation of pathogenic proteins which
cause incurable diseases such as cancer. This process
is aimed at the development and sale of TGF beta
cancer drugs which, unlike gene therapy, do not affect
a person’s genotype. A whole host of investors has
taken out stakes in the company since 2003. A total
of 65 million euros were invested in the Regensburg
business over four rounds of financing; MIG AG holds
24 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
Bayreuth
Regensburg
ween biotechnology companies, academic working groups
and companies in other established industries supports
the development of innovative products. For example,
East Bavarian companies from the fields of the paper,
glass, textiles and foodstuffs industries, electro-technology
and mechanical engineering – with fields of application
such as molecular diagnostics, bio-chips and bio-
functional interfaces – have been linked up with each other.
The Gäuboden region is growing (again)
Whereas the district of Cham has rather committed it-
self to mechatronics, the agriculturally strong Gäuboden
region around Straubing is pioneering in renewable raw
materials. With the “Biocampus” and the centre of exper-
tise for renewable raw materials, a sort of mini-bio-park
has arisen there, which allows Straubing to act inde-
pendently of the beacon of Regensburg in this field.
Straubing is now seen as fourth biotechnology region
in Bavaria, alongside Munich, Regensburg and Würz-
burg. With the growing importance of future-oriented
focuses of research such as natural pest control and al-
ternative fuels, the region of Straubing is also becoming
more important. Together with Regensburg, where the
main focus is more in the field of red biotechnology,
East Bavaria has a good chance of catching up further
on the all-powerful regional capital Munich.
florian.schiessl@vc-magazin.de
the lion’s share with 42 million euros. Recently, efforts
have been focussed above all on driving forward
development of the flag-
ship product AP 12009:
Trabedersen is currently in
Phase III, the last phase
before marketing authori-
sation, and is therefore the furthest advanced drug
in the bursting research pipeline. If this antisense
agent is authorised for use against a particularly ag-
gressive form of brain tumour, the company will have
scored an enormous success. Just to compare: Roche
generated a turnover of 2.6 billion US dollars last
year with the cancer drug Avastin.
Vindicated by success
Interview with Dr. Thomas Die-
fenthal and Dr. Peter Terhart
A decade ago, BioPark Regensburg was the spark that
set off the development of Bavaria’s life sciences sector.
It is now fundamental to the region’s success as a busi-
ness location for flourishing biotechnology firms and acts
as consultant and interface between companies, higher
education institutions and investors. Dr. Terhart, Chair-
man of the Board of Directors at S-Refit AG, and Dr. Die-
fenthal, Managing Director of BioPark Regensburg, spoke
to VC editor Florian Schießl about past and future deve-
lopments in and around the beacon city of Regensburg.
VC Magazin: What factors led to the establishment of
the BioPark in Regensburg?
Diefenthal: The trigger was – as for many other regions –
the Germany-wide Bio Regio competition launched in
1996. A small city like ours could of course not win,
but all the players had been brought together for the ne-
cessary planning and suddenly realised: we could get
something going ourselves here. In our case, we brought
in a consultant who recommended we set up the Bio-
Park.
Terhart: The major challenge was linking up the indivi-
dual research players and combining their ideas usefully
and sensibly. The BioPark enabled us to develop the full
potential of the university’s resources. Success is due to
both Mr Diefenthal and the current Chairman of the Board
of Directors, Oberbürgermeister (Mayor) Hans Schaidin-
ger. Mr Schaidinger was the one who finally managed to
gain the support of the various political parties for this
Number of employees and companies in BioRegion
Regensburg in 2008
Number of Employees
0 300 600 900 1.200 1.500 1.800 2.100 2.400 2.700
Employees 1.047 1.539
Biotech Life Sciences
Companies 27 13
0 10 20 30 40
Number of Companies
life sciences companies: pharmaceuticals,
medical technology, analysis
core biotech companies according to Capgemini
Source: Capgemini Deutschland GmbH, BioPark Regensburg GmbH 2009
Eastern Bavaria
Dr. Thomas Diefenthal Dr. Peter Terhart
milestone in Regensburg’s infrastructural development.
The establishment of the BioPark was only possible
thanks to high-tech funding from the State of Bavaria and
financial support from the City of Regensburg. Before its
launch, biology graduates from the university had next
to no chance of finding a job anywhere in the area.
VC Magazin: 10 years of the BioPark: what were the mile-
stones in its development?
Terhart: For me, the key milestone was the official open-
ing of BioPark I; new businesses were founded and we
succeeded in attracting prominent companies such as
Antisense, Geneart, Amgen Research and Schmack Bio-
gas. These firms have now themselves reached certain
milestones and are driving forward the whole region.
This success and great interest from outwith Bavaria
was also one of the reasons for the construction of Bio-
Park II and now also BioPark III.
Diefenthal: The opening of BioPark II was certainly an
important milestone, as the opening of the third building
will be. This is planned for 2011 and will be supported by
the German government’s Konjunkturprogramm II (2nd
economic stimulus package). The fact that we rapidly
began interdisciplinary work within the life science
cluster was also important, linking up individual fields
and companies based in the region.
VC Magazin: How has the biotech region of Eastern
Bavaria developed over recent years and what were the
factors for its success?
2.586 Diefenthal: A number of beacon areas has developed
with specific specialisations. Regensburg stands for bio-
tech, Cham has focussed on mechatronics and Strau-
40 bing on renewable resources. Together with the interdis-
ciplinary agency Agentur Biotechnologie, we set up a
50
network for technologies across Eastern Bavaria in 2007.
This is driving the technology transfer in the region and
creating important synergies.
VC Magazin: What is the national status of the biotech-
nology cluster Regio Regensburg?
Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 25
 Diefenthal: It all depends on how you measure success.
Based purely on company numbers, we have a small re-
gion – only 26 biotech firms. If you take the life science
cluster Bio Regio Regensburg, then we are stronger and
are around 10th/11th in Germany with 40 companies. How-
ever, this approach does not do the situation justice.
The region has been forced to position itself differently
from, say, Heidelberg, Cologne, Berlin, Munich or Frank-
furt as it does not have these cities’ critical mass. We
think in interdisciplinary terms and have been vindicat-
ed by our success – but you can only succeed with politi-
cal support. We have close links to regional politics, so
Eastern Bavaria
Regensburg can act rapidly and efficiently.
Terhart: Here in Regensburg we have a fairly small cluster
with just a few specialisms. Nevertheless, we can hold
our own against other, even larger cities despite the fact
our cluster has been less of a political objective and re-
ceived less public funding. There are few cities this size I
could name which have such a good infrastructural, in-
dustry, research and technology environment as Regens-
burg. We stand for quality, not quantity. If you look at the
distance between the university, the BioPark and many
companies, you’ll see how close and practical the net-
work in Regensburg is – an enormous location advan-
tage over larger clusters.
VC Magazin: Mr Diefenthal, you have just signed for
another 5 years with BioPark Regensburg. In your opinion,
what are the most promising areas of biotechnology;
what type of company will you be trying to attract in the
coming years?
Diefenthal: First of all, we need more space. That’s why
the third round of building, BioPark III, and further develop-
Geneart: genes made to measure from Regensburg
A spin-off of research at Regensburg University, Ge-
neart is one of the most successful start-ups in the
region of East Bavaria. In 2006, seven years after it
was founded, the Regensburg firm went public. Ma-
ny listed companies in the biotechnology sector
are still failing to post profits years after their IPO,
while using large amounts of money to develop new
drugs – but not Geneart, which broke even within
its very first year on the stock market. Managed by
founder Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner and Christian Ehl, the
company based in the BioPark in Regensburg has
become a global market leader in gene synthesis
and one of the world’s leading specialists in synthe-
tic biology. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies require large quantities of tailor-made
synthetic genes which are also needed by universi-
ty institutions. Other uses for Geneart services in-
clude improvements to industrial products such as
detergents and use in agriculture for the develop-
26 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
ment of the site are necessary. Regensburg still has no
research centre outwith the university, and we are trying
to develop an entire institute through a Fraunhofer working
group. As Regensburg is a centre of excellence for medi-
cine, one focus is on red biotechnology: we aim to continue
investing in promising research in diagnostics and treat-
ment. We have made a start with various initiatives such as
the José Carreras Foundation for leukaemia research and
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for HIV research.
VC Magazin: What will be the focus of S-Refit investments?
Terhart: We have on the whole a fairly diversified invest-
ment portfolio. However, one exciting question is how
the health market will develop. We have stakes in sev-
eral drugs developers. Natural pest control is also in-
creasingly important as authorisation for chemical pro-
ducts is being successively withdrawn across the EU.
florian.schiessl@vc-magazin.de
About the interviewees
Dr. Thomas Diefenthal is the Managing Director of
BioPark Regensburg, Cluster Manager of BioRegio
Regensburg and Deputy Spokesman of the Bio Re-
gio Working Group and the BioParks Working
Group in the German Association of Innovation,
Technology and Business Incubation Centres.
Dr. Peter Terhart sits on the Advisory Board of
BioPark Regensburg and has been Chairman of the
Board of Directors at S-Refit AG since 1998. He has
been Chairman of the BVK since April 2009.
ment of new types of plant. That is why Geneart
doubles its output more or less every year thanks
to increased auto-
mation and lower
personnel requi-
rements. The scale
effects this produces meant the Regensburg AG –
unlike many of its competitors – survived the dra-
matic drop in prices on the gene synthesis market
which began with the new millennium. The compa-
ny also appears to be well equipped to deal with
further drop in gene product prices on the world
markets in future: capacity should keep doubling
each year with 5 million base pairs in 2009 and 10
million by the end of 2010. However, this has not
meant immunity to the current recession. April saw
the company’s share price reach a record low, and
turnover and profits dropped significantly compar-
ed to last year.
 w w w . b i o r e g i o - r e g e n s b u r g . d e

Innova tive Biotechnology

Innovative
Future for Regensburg Zwickau

Coburg Hof Prag

Karlsbad

Bayreuth
Pilsen
Weiden

rnberg Amberg BioRegio Regensburg

Cham
TS C H E C H I E N
Neumarkt
gen i. d. Opf. Regensburg
Budweis
Straubing Deggendorf
B AY E R N
Passau

Landshut
Linz

ugsburg
O B E R Ö ST E R R E ICH
München

The BioPark Regensburg GmbH is the management and administrative headquarters of the biotech-
nology research cluster known as BioRegio Regensburg in East Bavaria. Located strategically at
the northernmost point of the Danube, in the Austrian-Czech-German triangle, the area is
regarded as the gateway to the East of the extended European Union. Currently 40 firms with
over 2400 employees are active in the field of life sciences in BioRegio Regensburg. As a result
it has become the most important region for Biotechnology in Bavaria, second only to Munich.

The BioPark Regensburg GmbH is located directly an the University Campus and has a surface
area of 12,000 sqm, of which 6000 sqm consist of state-of-the-art laboratory space that
meet clean-room air quality standards. Currently 22 tenants with 500 employees from
the fields of biotechnology, university institutes, and services are located in BioPark.
Our companies are active in the development of vaccines e. g. against AIDS (HIV) and on
therapies to combat cancers such as leukemia and brain tumors. Furthermore our companies are involved
in the fight against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases or in the testing of new types of diagnostic
systems for metabolic illnesses, which lead to arteriosclerosis too.

Visit us for details under www.bioregio-regensburg.de

Josef-Engert-Str. 9 · D-93053 Regensburg · Fon: +49 941 92046-0 · Fax: +49 941 92046-24 · E-Mail: info@biopark-regensburg.de
 Würzburg
Nuremberg
Life Sciences in Würzburg
The Innovation- and Start-up-center for Biotechnology
Northern Bavaria
and Biomedicine
Bavaria’s fourth-largest city, Würzburg, lies surrounded by
vineyards in the wine-growing area of Lower Franconia.
The town’s Julius-Maximilians University was founded in
1402 and is one of the oldest universities in Germany. It
was here at the Physikalisches Institut (Physics Institute) in
the late 19th century that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen dis-
covered the Roentgen rays named after him – a discovery
for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1901. A total of 14
Nobel laureates have lived and worked in this city, yet
Würzburg stands for the future as well as tradition: the city
is now a key centre for medical and biotechnology.
Offices and laboratories in the science park
The Innovations- und Gründerzentrum für Biotechnolo-
gie und Biomedizin (IGZ BioMed) [Innovation and Entre-
preneur Center Würzburg] in Würzburg is one of the
most important biotech clusters in Bavaria. Its specia-
lisms include both biotechnology/biomedicine and
medical technology. The same complex also houses
the Zentrum für moderne Kommunikationstechnolo-
gien (ZmK) [Centre for Modern Communication Tech-
nologies]. The IGZ BioMed/ZmK is based in Würzburg
Science Park, an area of around 70,000 m2 for high-tech
firms and service providers in the Würzburg-Ost indus-
trial estate. It offers technology start-ups around 2,500
m2 of laboratory space equipped with the necessary
technical infrastructure and approx. 3,000m2 of office
space. The Park benefits from its proximity to the uni-
versity and Fachhochschule [university of applied
sciences], not to mention numerous research institu-
tions. Most of the high-tech start-ups are spin-offs
from the Julius-Maximilians University, which has
been working closely with the IGZ BioMed since the
latter was launched in December 2001.
Technology transfer consultancy
“Our aim is to help founders develop and ensure they
are able to put their innovations and patents to econo-
mic use”, says Klaus Walther. Walther is both head of
the city’s Wirtschaftsförderung (business develop-
ment agency) and Managing Director of IGZ Betriebs-
28 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”
gesellschaft – a company backed by the City and District
of Würzburg, Sparkasse Mainfranken and the local
chamber of commerce, IHK Würzburg-Schweinfurt. “We
want to improve the transfer of technology between uni-
versity/Fachhochschule and companies.” That is why
the IGZ provides not only
premises and technical in-
frastructure but also a
broad spectrum of consul-
tancy services. These range
from general coaching
for young companies on
projects, economic strate-
gy and business models;
support in drafting busi-
ness plans and setting up
Klaus Walther,
networks to consultancy IGZ Betriebsgesellschaft
and support for investor
and financing negotiations. The German Federal Govern-
ment supports measures promoting a favourable start-
up climate in the region through the funding programme
“Exist III – Existenzgründungen aus Hochschulen” (“Uni-
versity-Based Business Start-Ups).
Scouts seek promising research
Difficult years followed IGZ’s launch as the Neuer
Markt German stock market bubble burst, but the au-
tumn of 2005 saw a new project get off the ground at
the IGZ. “Life Sciences in Würzburg” is aimed at
making greater use of life sciences potential in the city,
and the whole concept is linked to the “Cluster Offen-
sive Bayern” launched by the Bavarian State Govern-
ment. The IGZ BioMed/ZmK is the Lower Franconia
regional partners of BioM GmbH which now coordina-
tes Bavaria-wide cluster management in the biotech-
nology sector. So-called “technology scouts” are
among those responsible for promoting the transfer of
know-how in practice. They track down research with
economic potential at higher education and research
institutions and help and support researchers or “in-
ventors” develop independent businesses.
Sale of patents to major companies
“The major pharmaceutical firms have realised they
need innovative founders. Small businesses' object-
ive is therefore often to sell their ideas or patents to
the big players”, explains Walther. He cites two firms
from the biotech sector in particular which have
experienced strong growth and are already operating
on a large scale. The first is vasopharm GmbH, which
The building of the IGZ
has developed a drug for treating the effects of trau-
matic brain injuries and is now testing it in clinical
trials. The second is Patrys GmbH, a firm which has
developed a special antibody for tumour treatment.
The city can also boast success in the prestigious
university start-up prize awarded by the “netzwerk
nordbayern”: both the 2007 and 2008 winners – start-
ups Calportin Pharmaceuticals and Xenopharm – were
from Würzburg.
IGZ home to 21 start-ups
“The IGZ is not exclusively for new businesses. Young
high-tech firms already established can also move
here and will receive help and support”, says Dr. Gerald
Böhm, Head of Life Sciences and Information Techno-
logy at the IGZ BioMed/ZmK. “We act as a form of incu-
bator for new business. 21 start-ups from both the bio-
medical and IT/communi-
cation technology sectors
are currently supported
by the IGZ; a further five
are already more advanc-
ed and have offices
and/or laboratories in the
Science Park.We support
the start-ups in many
different ways, helping for
example in dealings with
banks and funding institu-
tions, however we oursel-
Dr. Gerald Böhm,
ves do not invest money IGZ BioMed/ZmK
in these companies”, continues Böhm. He explains
that unlike medical technology and IT firms which
usually manage with finance of around 100,000 to
300,000 euros, biotech companies tend to require
sums into the millions to finance their lengthy clinical
studies. That is why they rely on risk capital in additi-
on to the various subsidy schemes such as the Ger-
man Ministry of the Economy's EXIST fund.
Northern Bavaria
DFG puts Würzburg Uni. top
According to Böhm, around half of the 21 start-ups
currently supported by the IGZ are spin-offs from the
Julius-Maximilians University. He, too, highlights
Würzburg University’s strong reputation in the life
sciences sector. Its life sciences faculty has in recent
years apparently received more money from the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [German
Research Foundation] than any other in Germany.
“Würzburg University”, says Böhm, “is top of the DFG’s
rankings for basic biomedical research.”
“Health regions of the future”
Staff at the IGZ Würzburg are already looking beyond
merely supporting innovation, knowledge transfer and
product maturity. “We broadened our focus around a
year ago and are now concentrating on potential in the
health sector in general”, says Managing Director
Walther. “We have set up an agency in the IGZ to de-
velop this area.” Just five regions are to be selected
from the 20 remaining candidates in the national
“Gesundheitsregionen der Zukunft” [“Health Regions
of the Future”] competition – Würzburg is still in the
running. Successful regions will receive financial
support from the German Ministry of Finance over the
coming years. The decision will be announced on the
27th of May, and this date will mark “a major cross-
roads for us”, says Walther.
Bernd Frank
redaktion@vc-magazin.de
Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria” 29
 Case Study

Testing underway on new drug

Vasopharm GmbH: preventing brain swelling following traumatic

brain injuries
Northern Bavaria

Getting new drugs and treatments ready for the market focus of treatment was the heart. Later, the focus
demands patience and money. The Würzburg pharma- shifted to neurological treatments.
ceutical company vasopharm GmbH has specialised in
drugs which modulate the bioavailability of the messen- Private and public investors
ger nitric oxide. A key project in the development pipe- Investors include the venture capital companies EMBL
line is VAS203. This is aimed at preventing the build-up Ventures (Heidelberg), Future Capital (Frankfurt am
of pressure in the brain, for example following traumatic Main), HeidelbergCapital (Heidelberg) and Entrepre-
brain injuries. neurs Fund B.V. (Jersey, Channel Islands). Public in-
vestors Bayern Kapital (Landshut) and the KfW Ban-
Treating traumatic brain injuries kengruppe (Frankfurt am Main) also number among
Serious head injuries are an extremely dangerous the company’s partners, and tbg (technology invest-
business. Accidents can easily also affect the brain, in ment company, Bonn) is a silent partner. “A few other
the worst cases causing permanent damage to the smaller private investors also hold stakes in our com-
central nervous system (CNS). This is a recurrent risk pany”, reports Wandersee. Five professors from
with traumatic brain injuries and results from the various universities form the company’s scientific
extreme expansion of blood vessels caused by too advisory board.
much pressure on sensitive surrounding areas. A drug
which helps combat this danger would be an enor- New round of financing brings in 4.5 million euros
mous breakthrough, as Christian Wandersee, CEO of Vasopharm was generating turnover from a very early
vasopharm GmbH, explains. stage: initially as a service provider for major pharma-
ceutical companies and from 2002 onwards a licensor
Focus shifts from heart to brain for a large diagnostics firm. As Wandersee explains,
Vasopharm is based in the Innovations- und Grün- “we have focussed on licensing out patents in the
derzentrum [Innovation and Start-Up Center] in diagnostics sector which brings in annual fees and
Würzburg’s Science Park which specialises in commissions. However, this is by no means a profit
biotechnology/biomedicine, medical technology guarantee: turnover is far from covering our research
and information technology/modern communica- and development costs”. Only recently, at the end of
tion. Wandersee was part of the founding team in April, vasopharm completed its fourth round of financ-
1998 and his roles include managing the company’s ing – an internal round with existing partners which
commercial affairs. His three colleagues in manage- brought in 4.5 million euros.
ment have a scientific background. In the early
years, the company researched prophylactic drugs Main drug in clinical phase IIa
for cardiovascular diseases – in other words the “New substances are used primarily for our core pro-
ject VAS203”, says Wandersee. “We recently launched
a clinical phase IIa study for a series of tests on
Brief profile: vasopharm GmbH patients to last around two years. If we can bring this
G Established: 1998 study to a successful conclusion, we could sell the
G Sector: Pharmaceuticals project to a larger pharmaceutical or biotech company
G Headquarters: Würzburg on the basis of a licence agreement.”
G Number of employees: 8
G 2008 turnover: no info. available Bernd Frank
G Internet site: www.vasopharm.com redaktion@vc-magazin.de

30 Special “Biotech-Cluster Bavaria”

 global life science ventures
Investing in the life sciences

• Leading, independent venture capital fund

• Exclusive focus on the life sciences

• Supporting business plans originating from

universities, scientific institutions or industry, early
and later stage companies as well as buy-outs

• Offices in Germany and Switzerland

• Providing finance, advice and access to

expertise and international networks

• Currently advising and managing funds

greater than EUR 200 million

Global Life Science Ventures GmbH

Von-der-Tann-Strasse 3, 80539 München, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)89 - 28 81 51-0; Fax: +49 (0)89 - 28 81 51-30

Global Life Science Ventures AG

Postplatz 1, P.O. Box 626, 6301 Zug, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0)41 - 727 19-40; Fax: +41 (0)41 - 727 19-45

mailbox@glsv-vc.com
www.glsv-vc.com