Research, Innovation, Patient care / 21.11.2024
Berlin goes USA

Strengthening transatlantic economic relations: Berlin delegation trip to the USA - with a focus on life science and health

What an intensive, rewarding week in the USA. Our Managing Director, Dr. Christina Quensel, was part of the “Berlin goes USA” business delegation from Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, the Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Berlin Senate Chancellery.

 “With this large delegation trip, Berlin has shown a strong commitment to our business location and the healthcare industry in the capital region,” says Dr. Quensel. “The tour was perfectly prepared with a tight schedule. It was a great opportunity for networking and learning from the local life science hubs. A big thank you from us to the organizers and hosts!

The delegation trip was also a great opportunity for the many start-ups that were there - including MyoPax and Captain T Cell with their pioneering therapeutic approaches developed on the Berlin-Buch campus.

It was exciting to see, for example, how strong the life science ecosystem in New York has become in a very short time and what interesting programs New York State offers for international exchange in the life science scene.

There were also interesting new insights at the Life Science Hub Boston, a regular venue for the BIO International Convention.

The Bayer Co.Lab in Boston Cambridge is part of the international Bayer Co.Lab network with the aim of accelerating innovation. The Co.Lab in Berlin will reopen next week and also offers young life science companies the uncomplicated opportunity to move from one location to another and thus also be on site in Boston and take advantage of its dynamic ecosystem.

The CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center) directly opposite impresses with its active networking and lively exchange between various pharmaceutical companies, venture capitalists and start-ups. As a place for networking, the CIC is so interesting that large pharmaceutical companies are setting up shop there. Start-ups, in turn, can rent workstations there at affordable prices so that they can immerse themselves in the ecosystem.

Cambridge, with Harvard University and MIT, shows the effect of the spatial concentration of life science companies: within a 5-mile radius, there is an enormous density of people who all work in the same field and meet daily in the cafés of Kendall Square: Pharma, venture capitalists, founders and researchers.

By comparison, our life science ecosystem in the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is growing and offers very good conditions. Lighthouse projects such as “Unite” can provide and bundle additional resources and opportunities in tech transfer. Above all, there is potential in better integration of the hubs: from the Charité and Bayer in Berlin-Mitte, the FU in Dahlem, the science and biotech campus in Berlin-Buch to the Potsdam Science Park. A higher density increases the attraction for pharmaceutical companies and venture capitalists - Boston is a prime example of this.”