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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - The German biotech industry wants to use the broad interest in corona vaccines to attract more attention and better framework conditions for politics.

"Biotech must be seen as a key technology in many areas, not just in the pandemic," said Oliver Schacht, CEO of the industry association Bio Germany, on Tuesday.

Politicians must improve the conditions for financing growth.

Although there is money in Germany for basic research and early-stage financing for companies, there is a lack of large sums for the later clinical phases of drug development.

Investors such as insurance companies are unlikely to invest in biotech companies, and share profits in Germany would be highly taxed.

Last year, the industry experienced a boost with beacons such as vaccine researchers Biontech from Mainz and Curevac from Tübingen: The turnover of the 710 German biotech companies grew by 36 percent to around 6.5 billion euros, research spending climbed to 2.5 billion euros .

Employment also rose sharply by 10 percent to over 37,000. This jump will not be repeated in 2021, but the trend is positive, said Schacht.

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At the same time, the industry received the record value of a good three billion euros from investors, and the value of the listed biotech companies doubled, as figures from the audit firm EY show.

The lion's share of the money went to a few companies.

If you don't use the momentum now, the upswing threatens to fizzle out, said EY expert Alexander Nuyken.

The mRNA technology used in Biontech's vaccine also has great potential for cancer therapies and against autoimmune diseases.

These therapeutic approaches have been neglected in the state subsidies for corona vaccines.

Biotech companies are tinkering with complex active ingredients and therapies.

This is expensive and tedious, which is why biotech companies rely on money from investors.

The industry in this country is growing, but it is far behind the USA in terms of venture capital and IPOs.

There is also a lack of founders in the German biotech industry.

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210420-99-275617 / 3

EY press

Bio Germany press