The German Biotechnology Sector 2012
In 2011, the German biotechnology industry continued its moderate growth. . This is underlined by higher revenues of 2.6 billion euros (+10%), an increase in the number of employees to around 16,300 and a risen number of dedicated biotech firms (552). Only a low sum of capital (142 million euro) was invested in the sector, and companies spent less money for research and development (R&D) and they have adapted their business models to the new conditions. These are the central findings of the company survey carried out at the beginning of 2012 by the information platform biotechnologie.de on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The Biotechnology Sector
Summary
In 2011, the German biotechnology industry continued its moderate growth of recent years. This is underlined by higher revenues of 2.6 billion euros (+10%) and an increase in the number of employees to around 16,300 (+5.3%) in dedicated biotechnology firms. The number of dedicated biotechnology firms also rose (+2.6%). Research and development costs came to just under a billion euros in 2011 (-4%). Securing financing represented a major challenge for most biotechnology companies − a very low sum of just 142 million euros was invested in the sector over the course of the year.
These are the central findings of the company survey carried out at the beginning of 2012 by the information platform biotechnologie.de on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). All of the data are in compliance with the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; see methodology). According to the survey, at 552, the number of companies occupied primarily with biotechnology in 2011 is slightly higher than 2010 (538). Unchanged remained the number of companies where biotechnology represents just one aspect of business activities. The biotech-related areas of these 126 companies counted a total of 17,570 employees. Thus, a total of around 33,900 staff are employed in the commercial biotechnology sector in Germany.
