Regensburg Expands its Business Contacts in the USA
On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, this year’s Bio2003 was held in the U.S. capitol, Washington, D.C. The trade show spanned across 100,000 sqm and had over 16,000 visitors. BioPark Regensburg GmbH and RBD Regensburg Business Development GmbH, in the German pavilion, were among the 1.080 presenters this year. In spite of the economic slump, which resulted, in part, from the stock market crash, analysts predict that biotechnology is the future market and has tremendous potential for growth. Alone in the USA, there are currently 370 pharmaceutical products in Phase III of testing, thus they will be applying for market approval in the near future. It was again apparent, in the latest biotechnology report of Ernst & Young (Beyond Borders 2003), that the USA is, with nearly 1,500 companies, the market leader in this field. Of the worldwide publicly noted biotechnology companies 73% are in the USA and have an annual earning-capacity value of 41.3 billion US $. The relatively young biotechnology scene in Germany was founded in the mid-90s and is still fairly modest with 360 companies, yet still it is very innovative, which can be seen in its active trade show participation. German companies demonstrate a keen sense for filling unoccupied niche markets. Only a few years after their establishment, Regensburg BioPark companies are taking the international market by storm. PreSens-USA was represented at the trade show for the first time with its American partner company and Geneart-USA was again successful in its second year at the Bio2003.
The participation at the trade show opened doors to a deepening of business relationships with Regensburg partners in the USA. Talks were carried out in San Francisco between one of the founders of Tularik Inc., Dr. Andrew Perlman, and the director of Tularik Deutschland GmbH, Dr. Ulrike Schindler. The future development of the company was discussed. Tularik recently announced a partnership, with the Amgen company, in the field of cancer research. Amgen has 10,000 employees and is the largest biotech company in the world and therefore an important strategic partner for Tularik. Generally it takes 15 to 20 years before a market approved pharmaceutical is produced, the financing of such a long-term endeavor is therefore only possible with strong partners. During the visit the delegation was also able to convince Genentech, which has 6,500 employees and is situated on its own DNA-highway („One DNA Way“). With ten genetic products and a sales revenue of 3.18 billion Euro (2002) the biotech company, which was established in 1976, has become one of the largest in the world.
In the course of the economic-strategic alliance with the partner city of San Antonio, on-site presentations of BioPark Regensburg GmbH were held and introductions were made with biotech companies and research facilities. The Avalon Pharmaceuticals company, which works together with the University of Regensburg, also presented itself in Germantown, Md.
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