Life Sciences in Austria - From impulses to success!

Have you met LISA already? No? Well, if you would like to convert your findings into patents or products in Austria you will soon meet LISA. LISA - Life Science Austria - is the successor to the highly successful Impulse Programme Biotechnology. Until 2001 this programme motivated and supported innovative scientists in setting up their own businesses throughout Austria. Furthermore, it triggered a change in the awareness of the diverse needs of the life science industry in the country. LISA will now succeed the Impulse Programme and will integrate a whole range of services such as:

  • Focussing innovative ideas through business plan competitions

  • Identification and assessment of valuable ideas

  • Training of scientists in business matters

  • Financial support for patent applications and start-ups

  • Access to a network of dedicated business and legal experts

And LISA's range of services reaches even further:

  • 'Fast track' support for EU-funding applications is offered by LISA's partner, BIT, - Bureau for International Research and Technology Co-operation

  • Constructive co-operation with the City of Vienna's Center for Innovation (ZIT - Center for innovation and Technology) provides access to regional funding and a professional location management - LISA Vienna Region

Clearly, by offering such a spectrum of services LISA is the long awaited one-stop-shop for the entrepreneurial spirited researcher!

Pulsating Past

That such services are highly effective becomes obvious from last year's business plan competition BOB - Best Of Biotech. Scientists from 5 nations (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovak Republic) were united by the desire to convert excellent scientific results into meaningful applications. Nearly a hundred teams took part - an impressive achievement - surpassed only by the quality of the submissions. Subsequently intensive expert training forged many excellent concepts into professional business plans - and within less than nine month six new start-up companies were already established!

Considering the high-density of scientific excellence in Vienna it came to everyone's surprise that the competition's winning team was actually from Graz - a regional city with a long tradition for research excellence. In co-operation with the local hospital the successful company - Oridis Biomed - aims to identify targets for combating liver cancer. Their competitive advantage is as simple as it is promising: access to the world's largest tissue bank at the City Hospital of Graz - on exclusive terms! Beat that!

Money Matters…

That ambitions are high in Graz is also exemplified by JSW Research with offices in Graz and California. This company has combined excellent R&D on treatments for neuro-degenerative disorders with a clear marketing strategy for the US and Europe. Just like Innovacell - a 2002 start-up company in Innsbruck with a new concept for treating incontinence - the company was able to significantly expand its activities with the help of the finance and funding network now accessible through LISA.

That biotech companies in Austria are able to attract significant sums of capital is also exemplified by Intercell - a company working on vaccines for infectious diseases - and Igeneon - developing cancer vaccines. Together those two companies attracted more than €50 M in private capital in 2001 alone.

Of course, a thriving scene of biotech SMEs makes Austria increasingly attractive for pharmaceutical multi-nationals. This is evident from recent developments such as:

  • The joint venture between Boehringer Ingelheim Austria and the Austrian Academy of Sciences in establishing the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IMBA

  • The establishment of the Antibiotic Research Institute, ABRI by Novartis in Vienna

  • The foundation of Baxter Bioscience's Global Pathogen Safety Centre of Excellence in Vienna and their new vaccine production facility nearby

All these companies are already employing more than 10,000 people and have generated in excess of a €2.5 billion turnover in Austria in 2001. Numbers further explained when one considers that in 2001

  • The government dedicated an extra €500 M to innovative R&D

  • A national genome programme - GEN-AU - was launched, including efficient structures for a rapid technology transfer

  • An evaluation of specific tax reductions for start- up companies - on top of already up to 35% tax allowance on R&D expenses was initiated

… but it's not enough!

Of course growth needs space in biotech this is predominantly lab space: So the City of Vienna took on the challenge and phased-in the building of 18.000 m2 lab facilities over the next 3 years. A further 5.000 m2 will be built through private enterprises - clearly confirming the anticipated need and the vision of the City of Vienna. Further-more, 50 km to the west of Vienna, Krems offers even more space and facilities - especially for tissue engineering companies where this city is developing an international reputation.

But all this future lab space needs to be filled with qualified employees. Are there enough in Austria? Well, the facts speak for themselves:

  • Austria arguably has one of the best basic education systems in the world

  • The EU's eastern extension will allow for simplified recruiting of further technically skilled staff

  • The Danube University Krems is offering one of the first European MBAs for Biotechnology

  • The City of Vienna is establishing a College dedicated to the training of expert biotech staff right at the Campus Vienna Biocenter.

This Campus - at the center of Vienna is the site of the highest concentration of biotech companies, private and private-public research institutes and university departments in Austria. In that is a microcosm of the modern biotech in Austria where all key players of this industry are closely interacting. With such a stimulating environment it comes to no surprise that out of all 150 official EU-region East-Austria is No. 13 when it comes to the numbers of biotech patents.

Want to date Lisa?

Considering that increasing numbers of scientists perceive it as very satisfying to have taken their research results further and to have developed applications which may help to improve tomorrow's medical services.

So if you want to meet her soon don't hesitate to contact her…

  • LISA - Life Science Austria

  • Innovationsagentur GmbH

  • Taborstr. 10

  • A-1020 Wien

  • Tel: + 43-1-2165293-346

  • Fax: + 43-1-2165293-99

  • Email: office@lifescienceaustria.at

  • Web:

  • http://www.lifescienceaustria.at

AUSTRIA - a Place of Academic Excellence in BIO-Science

Bio-Science is an important and promising field in academia as well as in industry all over the world. Therefore it is important for a small country like Austria to create excellence, uniqueness, and exclusivity in order to be competitive and to be a highly ranked member in the international scientific community.

There are different academic places where bio-science takes place in Austria, e.g. universities (public and private), the Austrian Academy of Science, Vienna Bio Center, Austrian Research Center, hospitals, centers of excellence. Different evaluations during the last few months, including that of the Boston Consulting Group, demonstrated an impressive focus on the geographical areas in Austria where bio-science takes place - Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck.

AUSTRIA - a Place of Academic Excellence in BIO-Science

The Austrian Council for Research and Technology Development in its "Research Strategy Austria: 2,5% + plus" (www.rat-fte.at) has defined the Life Sciences as an emerging field for the future and as one Austrian strength. Biotechnology is a key technology of the 21st century. In fact, the council has given recommendations to the Austrian government for additional financing of more than €81 M for bio-science projects.

Universities. Current strengths of Austria in the life sciences are concentrated in a rather large number of groups at Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck universities.

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna has its strength in the integration of biology, chemistry and technology. In the Institute for Applied Microbiology fermentation strategies using microorganisms and mammalian cell cultures allow the production of bio-pharmaceuticals under GMP conditions for clinical trials. The Center for Ultrastructure Research is dealing with the investigation and technological application of two-dimensional protein crystals (S-layers). A strong focus in plant biotechnology is developing at the Institute for Agrobiotechnology in Tulln and the Centre for Applied Genetics. A European research program has been established for the investigation of molecular mechanisms of Fusarium resistance in crop varieties. The Institute of Food Technology cooperates in the field of applied biocatalysis with Graz Technical University.

There are excellent centers of pharmacy in Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck. The Center of Pharmacy at the University of Vienna forms, together with the Vienna Bio Center, the Vienna University Research Cluster “Bio&Pharma: Functional Life Sciences”. The University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna is focussing on research and development on five program projects, namely “control of physiological and pathological processes”, “infection and prevention”, “food safety and risk analysis”, “innovative diagnostics” and “biomedicine and biotechnology”.

During the last decades Graz has become a center of life sciences with focus on molecular enzymology and biocatalysis, lipid, biomembrane and atherosclerosis research, molecular biophysics, biology and pathology. Research laboratories at Karl-Franzens-University, Technical University, Academy of Sciences and Joanneum Research are involved in national joint projects (Special Research Centers for “Biocatalysis” and “Biomembranes;” Center of Competence for “Applied Biocatalysis”; “Molecular Medicine”) and in EU-programs (e.g., Marie Curie Training Site “Lipidomics”).

The University of Innsbruck has a strong research focus in bio-sciences. At least 30 institutes of the medical faculty and the Faculty of Science together with the Tyrolean Cancer Research Institute and an Institute for Biomedical Aging Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences are engaged in various topics of molecular biomedical research and biotechnology. Moreover, the medical faculty is a member of the EUROLIFE panel, a network of excellence of the universities of Dublin, Edinburgh, Göttingen, Leiden, Montpellier and the Karolinska Institute.

Research is focused on the structure, function and molecular interaction of biomolecules, intracellular signal transduction, gene regulation, molecular and cellular oncology, neuroscience and bio-, gen and phytoanalysis.

Austrian Academy of Science (ÖAW)

The ÖAW tried and tries to fill the gap in the research scene that is caused by the absence of an equivalent to the German Max-Planck-Society in Austria. A few carefully chosen new developments will be initiated by hiring first rank researchers from abroad (The newly founded Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, IMBA, implemented together with Boehringer-Ingelheim serves as an example). New current activities of the ÖAW have a bias towards life sciences and comprise the IMBA in Vienna, a Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM, AKH Wien), and a Gregor-Mendel-Institute for Molecular Biology of Plants (GMI, Wien). A more recent project in bio-science is an institute for Proteomics and Functional Genomics in Innsbruck.

Vienna Bio Center.

Vienna Bio Center. The Vienna Bio Center has become a center for research and high-profile scientific education of international standing, and a meeting point for young and talented scientists from more than 40 countries. In fact the organization unites leading institutes of Vienna University and the research orientated Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), which is part of the Boehringer group, and a serious number of new spin-off and start up companies.

Austrian Research Center, Seibersdorf

Austrian Research Center, Seibersdorf. ARC Seibersdorf research Ltd. is one of Austria's non-university research institutions. Within the Division of Environmental and Life Science research is focused on biotechnology and environmental issues. In an international research program, this expertise is presently being extended into the genotyping of sweet potato. In a recent multidisciplinary effort, ARC Seibersdorf biotechnology has successfully integrated microarray technology into this focused program in functional genomics.

Hospitals

Different hospitals in Austria mostly combined with universities and medical schools are important centers for biomedical research.

The Vienna General Hospital (AKH) has numerous university clinics and is home to a collection of scientific, bioscience related organizations (e.g. 12 Ludwig Boltzmann Institutes). They become more and more a center for spin-off companies with their strong contact to the Vienna Bio Center and the Academy of Sciences.

The Innsbruck Hospital Center and the TILAK (Tiroler Landeskrankenhausanstalten) form another research focus in life sciences in Austria. Additionally the TILAK founded the private university for health, informatics and technology Tyrol (UMIT) and competence centers together with university institutes and companies - medicine technology and medicine informatics.

Centers of Excellence

Centers of excellence in the field of bio- and life sciences are funded in the frame of four different programs. Three of them are administered by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): joint research programs (FSP) are designed to establish nation-wide networks of scientists, special research programs (SFB) should establish local centers of excellence and graduate programs (WK) are local centers of excellence for the education of highly qualified young scientists. A fourth program, entitled “Kplus Competence Centers” is administered by the TIG (Technologie Impulse Gesellschaft). Kplus Centers should stimulate the long-term cooperation between innovative enterprises and top-quality research in order to contribute to a lasting improvement of the cooperation between science and industry. Out of 13 Centers, 3 are located in Graz, 7 in Vienna, 1 in Innsbruck and 2 projects are networks between Salzburg and Vienna or Graz and Vienna. In Vienna, topics of the centers concentrate on basic science in cell- and molecular biology. A related field is covered by a joint research program between Vienna and Salzburg, dealing with allergy research more from an immunological point of view. The Centers in Graz have two different focuses: Biocatalysis, which is in close connection with the brand new Kplus Center on Applied Biocatalysis, and a second continues the tradition of lipid and lipoprotein research. Signal transduction and pathways are the focus of the only Center in Biomedical Sciences in Innsbruck. The major shares of investments in centers that are presented here in the field of biomedicine and life sciences go to Vienna ( e43,7 M) and Graz (e37,6 M ).

GEN-AU Program

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).

The Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture is responsible for the “Austrian Genome Research Program GEN-AU (GENome Research in AUstria), a “programme of the future” for Austria (www.gen-au.at). The program will significantly improve the conditions for investment in genomics and biotechnology and support the creation of new jobs and is endowed with e31 M for 3 years.

The successful start of the GEN-AU - the Austrian Genome Research Programme - is going to add a new dimension to bio-sciences in Austria.

Guenther K. Bonn

University of Innsbruck