Ceremony 25 Years of BioPark Regensburg

29.07.2024

(No. 279) The highlight of the 25th anniversary was a ceremony with 150 invited guests and many celebrities in the atrium of BioPark III on July 19, 2024. In glorious summer weather, the technology and start-up center celebrated its success story, which can boast impressive figures.

What a development: What began in 1999 with a biotechnology center on the green field 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 healthcare industry, has led to one of the most innovative clusters in the city, district and Eastern Bavaria. In his welcoming speech, BioPark Managing Director Dr. Thomas Diefenthal particularly welcomed the guests of honor from the founding period, including the then mayor Hans Schaidinger and the then head of economic development Dieter Daminger. However many professors and presidents of Regensburg's universities, now emeritus, were also present. Dr. Diefenthal also thanked the successful start-ups and entrepreneurs in the building, without whose success there would have been no BioPark I, II and III.

The Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts Markus Blume thanked the BioPark and the city of Regensburg for their commitment to the university campus. With the courageous and risky founding of the BioPark, the city showed foresight that would have led to the creation of a powerhouse in the immediate vicinity of the universities and non-university research institutions. The chairwoman of the supervisory board of BioPark Regensburg GmbH and mayor of the city of Regensburg Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer confirmed the successful strategy of municipal economic development to try new things with courage and confidence. In addition to the BioPark, the sister company TechBase, the AIR = Artificial Intelligence Regensburg initiative and the Kreativarreal in the Westhafen were created, among others.

The President of the University of Regensburg Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel recalled the extraordinary decision of the city and university under his predecessor, Rector Prof. Dr. Helmut Altner, to build BioPark Regensburg GmbH directly on the university campus. Due to the short distances to the various research facilities, the majority of the leaseholders in the BioPark today are spin-offs from the university and the university hospital. The subsequent panel discussion was entitled "BioPark as an innovation driver" and was moderated by Prof. Dr. Michael Nerlich, former director of the clinic and polyclinic for trauma surgery at the university hospital. In addition to the jury member of the BioPark Innovation Prize, Prof. Dr. Klaudia Winkler (OTH Regensburg) and the consultant for business, science and finance, Prof. Dr. Georg Stephan Barfuß (City of Regensburg), Prof. Dr. Achim Göpferich, head of the chair for pharmaceutical technology at the University of Regensburg, was on the panel. He appealed to universities to encourage students to be more independent - including to start their own businesses - to show them an alternative to a secure job in industry. The successful founder and managing director Dr. Thomas Schubert (2bind) recommends linking the BioPark and its companies even more closely with the universities, as he believes there is a lot of "gold" there.

The successful history of the BioPark was also summarized in a new image film. In the 25 years, the laboratory space has tripled, 29 companies have settled there and 71 start-ups have been supported. The number of companies in the cluster has tripled and the number of jobs has increased tenfold during this time. In total, the companies and the BioPark have invested 839 million € in the local life sciences industry to date. Of this, 242 million € is in venture capital, 414 million € in equity and 183 million € in funding. With 23,500 employees, the number of employees in the healthcare industry has increased by 45% since 2011 and the total turnover of all companies has almost doubled to 2.9 billion €. There is no better way to invest in the future.

from left to right: Prof. Dr. Udo Hebel, President of the University of Regensburg / Markus Blume, Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts / Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of BioPark Regensburg GmbH and Mayor of the City of Regensburg Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer / Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, Managing Director of BioPark Regensburg GmbH / Prof. Dr. Ralph Schneider, President of the OTH Regensburg (Eastern Bavarian Technical University)

from left to right: Prof. Dr. Michael Nerlich / Dr. Thomas Diefenthal, Managing Director of BioPark Regensburg GmbH / Prof. Dr. Claudia Winkler, Faculty of Applied Social and Health Sciences OTH Regensburg / Prof. Dr. Achim Göpferich, Head of the Chair of Pharmaceutical Technology University of Regensburg / Dr. Thomas Schubert, Founder and Managing Director of 2bind GmbH / Prof. Dr. Georg Stephan Barfuß, Advisor for Economics, Science and Finance City of Regensburg, CFO BioPark Regensburg GmbH

The successful BioPark team:

front row from left to right: Susanne Schorner (Finance and Accounting), Dr. Thomas Diefenthal (CEO), Gabriele Mirbeth (Authorized Representative for Facility Management), Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer (Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board & Mayor), Christiane Zaar (Finance and Accounting), Petra Lutz (Assistant to the Managing Director), Martina Hund (Finance and Accounting), Dr. Alexandra Sauter (Project Manager)

back row from left to right: Markus Nießl (Building Services), Martin Krömer (Building Services), Andrea Schindler (Marketing), Elisabeth Sprandl (Marketing Assistant), Mona Wieland (Event Assistant), Dr. Ilja Hagen (Cluster Manager), Susanne Schindler (Assistant for Facility Management), Prof. Dr. Georg Stephan Barfuß (City of Regensburg, CFO)

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