Tailwind for Life Science Start-ups

Life Science Factory (Copyright: Contentway GmbH)

Biotech start-ups are revolutionizing the healthcare industry and shaping the future of medicine. Provided they overcome the challenges of founding or spin-offs. It is often easier for scientific start-ups abroad. There, the economy, research institutions, and government agencies often work together on the challenges of our time. In the Dutch Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, for example, 126 companies and scientific communities realize their entrepreneurial ideas in collaboration with Maastricht University and the University Medical Center. In the USA, the private research company New England Biolabs, together with the laboratory community LabCentral, supports biotech start-ups in the early phase.

Here in Germany, various regional initiatives are also developing to establish biotech clusters. One of these is the Life Science Factory incubator initiated by the Sartorius Group in Göttingen, which promotes the research and development of innovative bio- and medical technologies with a clear user focus. In a new building of 3,000 square meters, founders, start-ups, scientists, and researchers are provided with basic infrastructure, access to laboratories, a start-up network, and solid business expertise. In addition to a broad mentoring, event, and workshop program, users can expect a versatile and flexible space offering state-of-the-art equipment.

The heart of the incubator is the modern, fully equipped S1 laboratories, where work can begin in the shortest possible time. All teams have their own lab benches in access-controlled laboratories, which can be flexibly and modularly adapted in size and equipment to the specific needs of the users and grow with the start-up if more space is needed. There are also shared facilities on the laboratory levels, such as equipment rooms for centrifuges, bioreactors, or cell culture. A comprehensive service covers cleaning and rinsing of the used equipment, up to the lab coat cleaning service. Users are also supported by the Life Science Factory during authority meetings and project registration.

Starting in summer 2024, a second location in Munich will open as part of a strategic partnership with the biomedical top research center Helmholtz Munich. Like in Göttingen, the new site will provide young founders access to laboratories and basic infrastructure, as well as solid business expertise, significantly supporting the translation of innovative technologies.

Especially for start-ups that are navigating from funding round to funding round, such budget control and personnel strategy enabled in this way are crucial. "Those who rely on a shared lab concept will, in the best case, have half a technical assistant position and about one-third of a scientist position available for core business projects, instead of using them for peripheral auxiliary tasks," says laboratory manager Dr. Katrin Wallbrecht. What a steep start-up trajectory!