25 years of BioPark Regensburg
(No. 277) On the occasion of its 25th anniversary the BioPark in Regensburg has shown very successful development in the BioRegio Regensburg cluster. The business figures presented by BioPark Regensburg GmbH, an enterprise of the city of Regensburg, show a tripling of numbers of companies and a fourteen-fold increase in the number of employees compared to the year of its founding. Since then, a total of € 839 million has been invested in the life sciences in the region.
What a development: What began in 1999 with a biotechnology center on the greenfield site of the University of Regensburg is now the second largest biotech location in Bavaria and among the top 10 German BioParks in terms of size and turnover. The consistent further development involving the regional pharmaceutical industry, medical engineering, diagnostics/analytics and most recently the health industry led to one of the most innovative clusters in the city, district and Eastern Bavaria. "The regular location analyses with a well-founded assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in the cluster were helpful here," said BioPark Managing Director Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, commenting on the success. With the support of the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, CapGemini Consulting, Ernst & Young and Detecon International have accompanied the development with the cluster players, most recently the master plan for the healthcare industry. Currently, over 100 players, companies, universities, hospitals and vocational schools are active in the Healthcare Regensburg network. This was confirmed by the current audit of the European Cluster Excellence Initiative, which awarded BioRegio Regensburg the Silver Label for the fourth time. The number of life sciences companies in the cluster is currently 66 companies with 5,671 employees. That is three times as many companies and fourteen times as many as when it was founded in 1999.
Over the last 25 years, the BioPark has successfully supported 71 start-up teams, including the company Geneart, which is now part of the US technology company Thermo Fisher Scientific with over 400 employees. The company is one of 16 successful spin-offs from the BioPark. In addition, 29 companies from Germany and abroad, including from the USA, South Korea and Brazil, have been able to locate for a period of time in the BioPark over the last 25 years, which has greatly increased the international perception of the location. Today, the BioPark, with its 37 companies and almost 700 employees, is regularly an ambassador for the city of Regensburg and Upper Palatinate at Bavarian joint stands at important leading trade fairs in biotechnology, medical engineering and the digital health industry around the world.
"One reason for the success of the BioPark was and is the city's consistent economic development, which has played a key role in shaping the innovative technology location with an active cluster policy," explained the mayor of the city of Regensburg, Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, who is also chairwoman of the supervisory board of BioPark Regensburg GmbH.
"It is very impressive that the companies in the BioRegio Regensburg cluster have so far invested a large sum of €839 million, the lion's share of which is €414 million in equity, followed by €242 million in venture capital and €183 million in funding," commented Prof. Dr. Georg Stephan Barfuß, head of economics, science and finance for the city of Regensburg and part-time chief financial officer (CFO) at the BioPark.
Half of the €45 million in construction and project costs for the BioPark over the last 25 years were borne by the State of Bavaria. The other half was financed from its own, federal and EU funds. Thanks to high lease occupancy and a careful spending strategy, BioPark Regensburg GmbH is now a financially independent company of the city of Regensburg with a recent turnover of €4.6 million. In this respect, the funding was a sensible investment.
Most recently, the BioPark experienced dynamic further development with the "Healthcare Regensburg - managed by BioPark" project by bringing the health industry sector on board at the location. Due to demographic change and the expansion of research and care at five hospitals, this sector is clearly on a growth path. In the current BioPark survey, the number of employees alone has increased by 45% since 2011. Sales doubled by almost 93% to €2.9 billion in the city and district of Regensburg.
The anniversary will be celebrated with a celebratory event on July 19, 2024.
