German biotech industry remains positive although expectations are lowered

Despite having lower expectations for the future, the biotechnology sector in Germany regards its current situation as better than last year. German companies’ willingness to invest is increasingly significantly. However, biotechs are planning lower investments in human resources than they did last year.

The sector regards the political parameters for biotechnology companies as worse than in early 2012. These were the findings of a survey by the biotechnology industry association, BIO Deutschland, in cooperation with the sector magazine |transkript. The figures were presented at a press conference in Berlin on March 14.

Expenditure on R&D is set to increase to an even greater extent than it did in previous years. At an index value of 96.1 points (+2.35 points), the willingness to invest in R&D has reached its highest level since 2006. New systems for processing biological data and ever faster and more affordable genome research have given companies a technological boost in recent years.