The number of life science companies in the cluster rose in the last year to 55 (+4 in the previous year). In the foundation year in 1999 there were initially 23 companies in action. The number of biotechnology companies (core biotech definition according to CapGemini Consulting) has remained essentially stable at 32 companies (- 1) in comparison to the previous year. The number of biotech employees rose from 1,108 to 1,208 by 9%. Concurrently the number of employees has risen slightly in the other life science companies from 2,743 to 2,772 (+ 1 %). The total number of employees rose at the cut-off date 31.12.2018 from 3,851 to a total of 3,980 employees by 3% (see graph 1). In the foundation year of 1999 there were just 400 jobs in the industry. Leasing of premises in the BioPark was at a total of 97 % at last count. Currently the Technology and Startup Center with its three buildings on 18,000 m2 of gross floor space accommodates 38 leaseholders with a total of 608 employees. This includes startup companies, university and external university institutions, companies in Germany and abroad, as well as service providers right up to its own child daycare center. Together with its subsidiary company TechBase there is currently over 30,000 m2 of area for use available in the technology and startup centers on the Uni-Campus in the City on the Danube of 166,000 inhabitants.
In 1999 BioPark Regensburg went into operation with its first building and today with three buildings and 18,000m2 is the second largest of its type in Bavaria. For years Regensburg has been amongst the fastest growing and most dynamic municipalities in Germany in prognostic studies. “A reason for this was and is the consistent economic promotion of the City. It has significantly influenced the innovative technologies in the location with an active cluster and business policy,” explained the Mayor of the City of Regensburg, Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer about this success, who is also the Advisory Council Chairperson at BioPark Regensburg GmbH.
Dipl.-Vw. Dieter Daminger, Consultant for Economy, Science and Finance and the City of Regensburg and who also holds position as CFO at the BioPark highlighted; “We have been successful time and again at bringing the decision makers from overarching parties to the table and thereby getting innovative projects underway. This also allowed the realization of all the building measures at the BioPark with funding from the EU, federal monies, the State of Bavaria, City of Regensburg and private equity with erection on the grounds of the university in accordance with construction law.”
As a company of the City of Regensburg BioPark Regensburg GmbH has been able to constantly further develop the cluster policy of the Regensburg Bioregion in East Bavaria beyond purely its sustainable leasing business. This cluster policy has been certified in accordance with the European Cluster Excellence Initiative with the Silver Label. In particular the interdisciplinary linking of biotechnology with other industries e.g. in sensory technology and most recently healthcare has led the location to new branches of industry. Also the mixture of startup, small and medium-sized as well as large companies and university institutions under one roof has proven to be very fruitful.
BioPark CEO Dr. Thomas Diefenthal can therefore look back with his team on 20 very successful years. Today over 50 companies with almost 4,000 employees are active in the Regensburg Bioregion, a good ten times more than 20 years ago (see graph 2). “In this period of time we have successfully been able to bring in 64 startup companies from the Cathedral City to the North Bavarian Businessplan Competition. The companies have acquired to date 661 million €, half of which as private equity and each a quarter of venture capital or private funding”, he summarized this success.
The anniversary will be celebrated with a festive event on 9 July and Open Day on 13 July 2019.
