The white paper “Biotech Innovation Hubs in Germany – Divided and Conquered?” by the Institute for Deep Tech Innovation (DEEP) at ESMT Berlin and the international consulting group BCG introduces the Biotech Innovation Hub Index (BIHI) to assess and compare the effectiveness of such hubs in Europe and the U.S.
The study, which places a special focus on Europe’s largest economy Germany, reveals that European hubs lag behind those in the U.S. except in academic research quality.
The pioneering study reveals a significant gap between European hubs, particularly in Germany, and their U.S. counterparts in transforming academic research into successful biotech ventures. Despite having comparable performance and complementary strengths, German hubs lack effective collaboration, resulting in subpar performance compared to London or Paris.
The study’s authors Maximilian Nisslein, consultant (Berlin) at BCG, Benedikt von Bronk, project leader (Düsseldorf) at BCG, Francis de Véricourt, professor and academic director of DEEP and Joachim Faber Chair in Business and Technology at ESMT, and Torsten Kurth, senior partner and managing director (Berlin) at BCG recommend enhancing collaboration among these hubs to improve biotech innovation in Germany and Europe.
To combat the direct disadvantages of Germany’s decentralization of innovation hubs, the authors propose fostering cross-hub collaboration, harmonizing innovation approaches across German hubs, and strategically redirecting government funding to more effective stages of the innovation process.
“This white paper is a call to action for German policymakers, scientists, and industry stakeholders to rethink and revitalise the nation’s approach to biotech innovation,” said Francis de Véricourt. “At the DEEP Institute, we are dedicated to fostering a more integrated approach to scientific research and commercial biotech enterprise in order to elevate Germany’s competitiveness in the area.”
Featured Photo by Mark König on Unsplash.