Germany's biopharmaceuticals market is thriving, but tougher times ahead

'Germany's medicinal biotechnology sector has come through the economic crisis largely unscathed,' said Frank Mathias, chairman of VFA Bio and CEO of MediGene AG. Dr Mathias was presenting a report entitled 'Medicinal Biotechnology 2010', prepared by The Boston Consulting Group for VFA Bio, the lobby group for biotechnology within the German pharmaceutical group, the VFA. The study encompasses medicinal biotech activity in both big established companies and small and medium-sized enterprises.

In 2009, biopharmaceuticals turnover grew by 5% to 4.7 billion euros ($6.28 billion), marking a slowdown in the pace of growth of previous years. Drugs in the immunology and oncology subsectors did best, notching up increases in turnover of 26% to 1.1 billion euros and 17% to 753 million euros, respectively. With 35,000 highly qualified employees - a slight increase on last year - medicinal biotech makes a significant contribution to cementing Germany's reputation as a center for business and research, added Dr Mathias.

Biopharma now 16% of total drug market