Austria - Science Alive! Austria is kicking-off in the Life Science Industry

Austria is pulsating with activities in biotechnology and biomedical research. Since the breakdown of the iron curtain and entry of Austria into the EU more and more international life science companies are establishing branches in Austria. Additionally, spin-off and start-up companies in the biomedical area are founded in increasing numbers. Being home to top-quality university research groups, as well leading corporate research in biomedicine and biotechnology Vienna is well-prepared to spearhead and eventually lead these developments within Europe.

Furthermore, several decisive economic factors strongly underline Vienna's attraction as one of the future location for biotech developments in Europe. These include:

  • Highest cost efficacy in Europe (1, 2)

  • High level quality of life (2, 3)

  • Low risks for investors (2, 4)

  • Excellent productivity (2)

  • Highly qualified work force (2, 5)

  • Low taxes yet high social security (6)

  • Proactive funding of innovative technologies

  • Excellent Trade infrastructure (7)

The stimulating effect of such prime conditions on the performance of companies in the life science industry is best exemplified by Intercell www.intercell.co.at, the first Viennese university biotech spin-off financed with a significant proportion of venture capital. Under the skilled management of Prof. Alexander von Gabain (CEO) and Prof. Max Birnstiel (co-founder) the company went already through a phase of rapid growth - increasing its workforce by 10-fold within the last two years. Austrian Nordic www.austrian-nordic.com, the youngest biotechnology company located in Vienna, strives to repeat this achievement. Despite having a Danish mother-company, Bavarian Nordic A/S, located near Medicon Valley, and a German daughter successfully operating in München/Martinsried - when planning the expansion of their tissue specific vector development programme Dr. Brian Salmons (CEO) chose Vienna as the most suitable location within Europe:

VIENNA SIMPLY HAS THE K.I.C.K! Keenness . Infrastructure . Capital . Know-how

Keenness

The keenness to further promote biotechnology manifests itself in the establishment of the Biotechnology Impulse Programme www.innovation.co.at. This programme was launched by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Labor and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. Supervised by Sonja Hammerschmid this initiative supports the start-up of businesses in the biotech sector and offers well-founded consultancy and specific economic support.

The Impulse Programme is fully integrated into the Innovationsagentur - a further source of support for those with ideas, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial ambitions. The Innovationsagentur offers help with regard to setting up a business plan and solving questions of financing, trade law and patent law.

One focus of Hammerschmid's activities is raising the awareness of researchers and the public to matters of biotechnology. The recent inauguration of the Life Science Circle offers a good example of this focus. The forum offers innovative life scientists the opportunity knitting a close network of contacts to entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, big pharma and patent attorneys.

A further proof of Austria's keenness to provide an exceptional conducive environment for biotechnology companies is the Bureau for International Research and Technology Co operation (BIT) www.bit.ac.at, a joint initiative of 7 Federal Ministries, the Economic Chamber as well as all Austrian science-based organisations. BIT is the national information and service centre for all European and international research & technology programmes including specific activities in the sectors of life sciences. Thus, the experts of BIT are acting as a gateway to the Austrian and European research & technology “community”.

Infrastructure

A second major player supporting biotech development in the Vienna area is The City of Vienna, providing financial and logistic support for biotechnology-oriented companies through :

Vienna Business Agency

After the BoehringerIngelheim-owned Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) was founded in 1985 both The City of Vienna and the federal government satisfied an increasing demand for research facilities at the Vienna BioCenter (VBC).

This strategy established the VBC as one of the worldwide leading centers of excellence in biomedical research, currently encompassing some 700 scientists and students from over 40 countries. The VBC represents a highly successful co-operation between university and corporate research. It is therefore not surprising that the VBC is to be expanded to form a biotechnology cluster like those found in the leading research communities in the USA and Europe. The VBC was expanded by eight biotech start-up companies within the past two years, with several more to come in the near future. The Vienna Business Agency has therefore installed a cluster management to plan and co-ordinate all future developments in biotechnology and molecular medicine. Karl Kuchler, a scientist with some 17 years experience in biomedical research, and a professor of molecular genetics at the Vienna BioCenter (VBC), was appointed “Cluster Manager for Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine”. He will co-ordinate and oversee the development of the first biotechnology cluster located at the VBC campus. However, it goes without saying that a similar cluster formation is imaginable at other outstanding research institutions in Vienna, including the University of Agricultural Sciences, the General Hospital of Vienna or the University of Veterinary Sciences in the near future.

Capital

Parallel with the Impulse Programme Biotechnology the Biotech Funding and Financing Network was created. This network can be accessed through the Impulse Programme and jointly develops options to facilitate and accelerate financing of biotech start-ups. The network consists of public and private-sector financiers (venture capital funds; national and international), funding institutions and regional partners, all of them familiar with biotech projects. Integrated into this network is a major federal funding organisation of Austria, the FFF (Forschungsförderungsfonds). Being renowned for it's short process time the FFF prime-pumped life science in Austria with 28 Mio. Euro in 1999 only. But public funding for biotechnology especially in Vienna is not stopping there: The Vienna Business Agency is in many cases backing the federal funding with further support from the successful Innova programme, which supported with more than 5.3 Mio. Euro in 1999.

Know-how

In the last nine years Austria increased the output of scientific publications not only in absolute numbers but -more important - was also able to increase the proportion of Austrian publications to the world total by a stunning 30%! (8)

And, Austrian scientists know how to protect their intellectual property: the number of patents in the life science sector rose by 50% in 1999 only. But, Austria's R & D in biotechnology and medicine is not only outstanding in terms of quantity: An assessment of international scientific publications in the years from 1992 to 1995 has shown that Austria has higher impact factors than Germany in the areas of haematology, immunology and dermatology. Another study conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute ranked the Vienna University among the top ten universities in central Europe for genetics and molecular biology. (10)

Vienna, the capital of Austria represents the economic and scientific centre. About 70% of all R&D in biomedicine and biotechnology is in Vienna. Four out of eight universities are intensively involved in biotechnology and molecular medicine. Furthermore, the biotech industry includes major global players.

The concerted actions by the Vienna Business Agency, the Innovations-agentur, the federal government and several funding institutions such as the Austrian Science Foundations, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, venture capital networks and, last but not least, private equity funds have ensured a critical financial mass for competitive and sustained biotechnology developments in Austria. This way, Vienna will quickly develop into one of the major European players in the biotechnology business, representing an important spot on the world-wide map of leading biotechnology clusters.

  • 01. KPMG Study among G7 and Austria. Compared were the most important cost factors such as real-estate prices, wages and taxes.

  • 02. World Competition Yearbook 2000.IDM, Switzerland. Analysis of 47 nations world-wide.

  • 03. The analysis of 218 cities world-wide has revealed that Vienna ranks among the top four

  • 04. Austria rates 7th place ahead of France, Germany, UK in a world-wide assessment, EuroMoney 3/2000

  • 05. According to the World Competitiveness Report, Viennese education ranks among the three best among the 29 OECD countries. Additionally, several International Schools are represented in the area of Vienna.

  • 06. Austrian tax law offers local businesses generous possibilities and thus attractive conditions compared to other European countries, with a remarkably low corporate income tax rate of 34%. Austria also has no trade or property taxes (NCT-ABA Study 99; Summary of Austrian Economy).

  • 07. A study of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vienna; www.amcham.or.at

  • 08. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna. 4/2000

  • 09. Annual Report 1999. österreichisches Patentamt

  • 10. Study of Fraunhofer Institute published in “Bildder Wissenschaft” 3/2000