Top Investment 2022 in Saxony

February 2023

Saxony: Innovative location for life sciences companies

The health industry and medical technology are among the sectors with great future potential and promise attractive growth and market opportunities for companies and investors. Saxony is excellently positioned for this. With a dynamic cluster of health industry, biotechnology, medical technology and pharmaceutical industry, the region unites a broad spectrum of powerful players and covers the entire value chain.

In addition, there is a high degree of networking between research and companies, cross-sectoral cooperation in many branches of industry and customised support through sector networks such as biosaxony. In Saxony, a successful and sustainable ecosystem for innovation and growth has emerged in the life sciences sector, which is also an excellent example of successful structural development in eastern Germany.

Meanwhile, more than 330 companies and research institutes with around 15,500 employees are working on innovative solutions for human health. The location has also established itself internationally, as demonstrated by the extremely successful organisation of the FlyPharma and BIO-Europe conferences and partnering events in Leipzig in September and October 2022.

© Fraunhofer IZI Leipzig

Irish Kerry Group joins Leipzig biotech company

The agile environment in Saxony thus offers optimal location conditions that international companies appreciate. At the same time, Saxon companies are interesting for investors due to their innovative strength and established ecosystems.

In February 2022, for example, the Irish Kerry Group, a leading global supplier of flavours and nutrients for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, invested in Leipzig-based c-LEcta GmbH.

Founded in 2004 as a start-up, the company is now a global biotechnology company specialising in enzyme products. These are used in the production of proteins for fine chemicals, the food industry or for the production of biofuels. In September 2022, the go-ahead was given for the new company headquarters in “BioSquare Leipzig”. For this purpose, an ultra-modern building complex is being constructed on the grounds of the Alte Messe Leipzig, which c-LEcta will occupy with more than 10,000 m² for laboratories, offices and a production facility.

© c-LEcta GmbH

Taiwan relies on Bio-City Leipzig

The BioCity Campus in Leipzig has been strengthened since last year by the Taiwanese company HAN Biomedical. HAN Biomedical develops novel structured biomaterials for tissue repair and regeneration in patients. The company has established various technology platforms such as collagen, native hyaluronate and composite materials for specific tissue repair.

The company is supported in the necessary approval processes by the Accelerator Program “Medical Forge“. It helps start-ups and young companies in particular to develop market-ready product innovations for the German healthcare market. The program originates from the industry network biosaxony and is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action, among others, and supported by a broad network of companies.

BioCity Leipzig © LGH Service GmbH

Californians Build European Research and Development Centre in Pirna

The D.I.S. group of companies, headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley, specialises in high technology and the precision manufacturing of highly complex assemblies. In Pirna, Saxony, the D.I.S Group is now building its European branch with a development and production facility for electron and ion beam technology products. These are used, for example, for ion sources in medicine for cancer therapy, mainly for inoperable tumours. The aim is to establish a centre of excellence for ion beam technology in Pirna.

Saxony offers a broad R&D landscape and funding

In addition to the available skilled labour and space, another plus point for investors is the broad-based research and development landscape and the funding provided by the Free State. For example, research and development projects of small and medium-sized enterprises and their cooperation partners can be supported with 600 million euros until 2027 within the framework of the current technology funding.

Saxony is home to numerous leading institutes, clinics and networks. The Innovation Center for Computer-Assisted Surgery (ICCAS) is one of the most important interdisciplinary research institutes for biomedical technology in Germany and is considered a pioneer in this field worldwide.

At the interfaces of medicine, life sciences and engineering, the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) in Leipzig acts in the development of innovative cell and gene therapeutics. The IZI is also a partner in the “SaxoCell” network. Here, scientists from the TU Dresden, the University of Leipzig with the clinics in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and regional industry partners have joined forces to build a research and industry platform for so-called “living drugs” in cell and gene therapy. Leipzig University Hospital is the first hospital in Europe to meet the requirements for carrying out CAR-T cell therapies in the future.

Saxony as a pioneer in 5G infrastructure

In order to be able to use innovative digital solutions in the health sector, the necessary infrastructure is also needed. A fast data network is the basis for many telemedical applications that can provide better medical care for patients. These include, for example, remote operations and examinations, consultation hours via the internet or the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnostics.

For this purpose, the Free State of Saxony signed a contract with Vodafone GmbH at the beginning of 2023 with the aim of making Saxony a pioneer for 5G+ and enabling corresponding applications in medicine, among other things. Vodafone has already been working on innovations with the 5G and 6G mobile communications standards in its international research and development centre in Dresden in the field of digital health since October 2022.

International location marketing

For companies and investors, Saxony thus offers ideal development conditions and points of contact for profitable cooperation. Interested companies from the biopharmaceutical sector from Austria and Switzerland can see this for themselves in July 2023 as part of a GTAI project on the internationalization of regions in structural change in the life sciences sector in Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony.

Important destinations are Halle, Leipzig and Dresden, where they will meet with companies from the pharmaceutical production and biotech sectors. In addition, research focuses and institutes from the fields of cell and gene therapy as well as radiopharmacy are to be visited. The project is part of a joint initiative by the economic development agencies of the federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt and Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, which have been jointly marketing the region since 2022 under the label “Airea – the Airport Region in Central Germany”.