Life-sciences hub Saxony: a driver of innovation for cell and gene therapy

Life-sciences hub Saxony: a driver of innovation for cell and gene therapy

Saxony is one of Germany’s most exciting life-sciences regions. The tremendous sense of dynamism and energy at the research centres, the high degree of networking between research and business, the interdisciplinary co-operation in many industrial sectors and the targeted support by industry networks have created an ideal ecosystem for innovation and growth. Over 300 businesses and 30 research institutes with some 15,500 employees are now working on solutions for human health.

SaxoCell – a platform for ‘living medicines’

Scientists from the TU Dresden, Leipzig University and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) have teamed up with the hospitals in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, as well as regional industry partners in the ‘SaxoCell’ network (www.saxocell.de), to set up a research and industry platform for ‘living medicines’.

The network seeks to make genetically modified cell therapies more flexible and affordable. The clinical successes achieved to date include the development of cancer immunotherapies based on genetically modified T-cells, known as CAR-T-cell therapies, which have already been clinically tested and applied by the SaxoCell partner institutes and hospitals.

An attractive environment for investors and start-ups

The last few years have seen a highly attractive environment emerge in Saxony, not least due to the state’s biotechnology offensive. Local start-ups, such as anvajo GmbH, developer of the world’s most compact universal platform for fluid analyses, as well as international companies like GENEWIZ GmbH, a leading genomics service provider with European headquarters in Leipzig, have all chosen to base themselves here. But Saxon businesses are also sparking interest among investors, as evidenced by the Irish Kerry Group joining Leipzig-based c-lecta GmbH, which specialises in enzyme engineering, and American investor Blackstone injecting 250 million euros into GEMoaB Monoclonals GmbH, a specialist in innovative cancer therapies.

What’s more: interdisciplinary co-operation

Many businesses particularly value the potential for interdisciplinary co-operation, as this offers tremendous opportunities for growth in the future. Saxony is excellently positioned for this with its traditionally strong competence in basic technologies such as micro and nanoelectronics, sensor technology, 5G, automation and robotics. Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen (Saxony Trade & Invest, business-saxony.com) is supporting this with targeted cross-cluster activities.

The ‘Wir sind DIANA’ (‘We are DIANA’) project (www.wirsinddiana.de) is working on technologies for sustainable point-of-care diagnostics. Its aim is to establish a high-quality value chain of innovative diagnostic systems that facilitates localised, on-site analytics.

To develop personalised medicine, promotions for the Center for Medicine Innovation (CMI) major research centre (www.medicine-innovation.org) in greater Leipzig are focused on the core technologies of artificial intelligence, software-based active-ingredient modelling, cell and gene therapies, and smart, networked medical-technology systems.

BIO-Europe 2022 in Leipzig

BIO-Europe, which will be held in Leipzig from 24 to 26 October, will put Saxony in the spotlight of the international biotech industry, enabling it to present its diverse know-how and attractive location-based attributes to a broad expert audience. Come on over – it’ll be worth it!

Contact:

Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen GmbH (WFS)
Tel.: +49 (351) 2138-0
info@wfs.saxony.de
www.standort-sachsen.de