FOR A scientist like Simon Moroney, hoping to swap academia for industry, moving to Germany in the early 1990s was a risky move. With strict laws hindering drug research and strong public opposition to genetic engineering, German biotechnology seemed dead before it even started. Fifteen years later and it鈥檚 not just the beer and bratwurst that entice British scientists to follow in Moroney鈥檚 footsteps, but an impressive hub of biotechnology.
The pace of improvement, continuing investment and its position at the forefront of research are all good reasons for career-minded foreign researchers in industry or academia to look favourably on Germany, says Moroney. While he may have had reservations in 1992, when he chose 鈥渄esert-like鈥� Germany as the location for his biotech start-up MorphoSys, the fall of the Berlin wall three years earlier had given him confidence that the country was going to be a real growth area. His gamble paid off, and MorphoSys is now Germany鈥檚 second-largest biotech company. One benefit is that there is plenty of great science around, he says. 鈥淭here are opportunities to work at the cutting edge with high quality, committed colleagues.鈥�
Germany now has more biotech companies than any other European country, and although firms tend to be small 鈥� with almost half employing fewer than 10 people 鈥� industry analysts predict the sector鈥檚 turnover will exceed 卢1 billion this year. The country is also near the top of the international league when it comes to the number of compounds in the drug pipeline. It even has its own biotech 鈥渇airy godfather鈥�, in the form of software billionaire Dietmar Hopp, who is investing millions in the industry.
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Germany鈥檚 remarkable turnaround began in 1996. Concerned that the country was failing to keep pace in the global competition for biotechnology jobs and revenues, the federal government sponsored a nationwide contest called BioRegio, awarding grants and loans of $30 million to its three strongest biotech regions. The competition kick-started the industry. 鈥淚t told everyone that the German government wanted to promote biotech,鈥� says Moroney.
The industry thrived until 2001, when boom turned to bust. The industry 鈥渃rashed into a nuclear winter鈥� that extended into 2004, says Boris Mannhardt, CEO of BioCom Project Management, which advises biotech companies and runs the government-funded website biotechnologie.de. Shaken by this experience, Germans now tend to be cautious about starting new biotech companies, says Julia Sch眉ler, a senior industry analyst from the European biotechnology centre of Ernst & Young. Foreign researchers looking for the thrill of joining a start-up company may want to look elsewhere, she suggests. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a matter of culture. People don鈥檛 like to take the risk. They鈥檝e seen how in earlier years some of those [biotech] start-up companies failed. In Germany, it is much easier to be a scientist at a research institute than to start a company.鈥�
Since 2004, however, the industry has felt a promising revival, aided by investment from venture capitalists. Government spending on research and development is now running at a healthy 2.5 per cent of GDP, with a substantial slice of that directed towards biotech and pharmaceutical research. The number of biotech companies now hovers around 500, Mannhardt says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite stable now 鈥� the sector has really recovered a lot.鈥� What鈥檚 more, in July the government announced a four-year 卢800 million incentive to further strengthen the country鈥檚 pharma research, and this funding has been matched by equal commitment from biotech firms.
The biotech recovery is most apparent in Munich, Heidelberg and Berlin, home to the country鈥檚 largest clusters of biotech and pharma companies. Between them, these cities also offer a diverse choice of environments in which to live. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear to me that the German people now have a real pride in this industry,鈥� Moroney says.
Munich
Munich is the capital of the state of Bavaria and is located just a few hours from the sun-drenched cafes of Italy and the glacier-encrusted peaks of the Alps. With more than 90 biotech companies, Munich hosts the largest cluster of such firms in Germany, according to biotechnologie.de. 鈥淢unich is definitely the most advanced in the biotech field,鈥� says Mannhardt. Among its prestigious universities and research institutions are the Ludwig Maximilian University and the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry (MPIB).
Cell biologist Simon Goodman works in Darmstadt at Merck, which claims to be the world鈥檚 oldest pharmaceutical company. He came to Germany from the UK in the early 1980s to work at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society, for what he thought would be a two-year stay. 鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 plan on being here very long, but I found it was a really beautiful place to live,鈥� he says. Goodman was charmed by the people and by the beauty of southern Germany鈥檚 landscape. 鈥淚鈥檝e spent lots of time cycling, walking and skiing here,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd over 25 per cent of the land area is still under forest. The forests are really fantastic.鈥�
Goodman has found one of Germany鈥檚 most striking cultural characteristics to be its strong sense of regionalism, defined in part by local food preferences. 鈥淭he variety and the deliciousness of the bread is only matched by the variety and deliciousness of the beer,鈥� he says.
The strength of these regional food differences is reflected in the Weisswurstgrenze 鈥� literally the 鈥渨hite sausage border鈥� 鈥� which divides southern Germany from the rest of the country. On the southern side, diners are served Weisswurst, made from veal, along with Weissenbier (wheat beer) and dumplings. Elsewhere in Germany the favoured traditional meal features the darker bratwurst, served with potatoes.
Munich鈥檚 beer gardens are another distinctive feature, with a twist that illustrates Germany鈥檚 attitude towards children and family life. Even the beer gardens have playgrounds, says Dennis Thomas, an American researcher in the molecular structural biology department at the MPIB. Perhaps more significantly, German firms are required to allow employees up to three years of unpaid parental leave, with a guarantee that a job of the same seniority will be made available to them on their return.
Heidelberg
Heidelberg is a city surrounded by the Odenwald (Odin鈥檚 Forest). It has just 150,000 inhabitants, but the German Cancer Research Centre, the European Molecular Biological Laboratory (EMBL) and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research make it a big hitter when it comes to academic biotech. Barely touched by the devastation of the second world war, Heidelberg鈥檚 old-world architecture, narrow cobbled streets and sprawling gothic castle give it a fairy-tale feel.
All fairy tales need a splash of good fortune, so it is fitting that Heidelberg is also where Hopp has invested most of his money 鈥� an estimated 卢320 million over six years 鈥� in companies such as Cytonet, which is working on liver cell products, and Heidelberg Pharma, which is developing treatments for HIV and cancer.
Heidelberg is also home to Canadian-born Rob Russell, group leader in structural bioinformatics at the EMBL. Before moving to Germany, Russell gained a PhD in molecular biophysics at the University of Oxford. One of the most telling differences Russell has found between German and Anglo-Saxon cultures is the attitude towards work. In the UK and North America 鈥測ou work all the time and you don鈥檛 speak in terms of a job, but of a career鈥�, he says. 鈥淵ou see much less of that here. Germans want their work and play to be divided. It leaves you admiring people for valuing things outside of the office.鈥�
Time off from work tends to be generous too, averaging six weeks plus national holidays. 鈥淭he concept that someone would work and not use the vacation they have is just out of the question,鈥� agrees Thomas. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned the most important word in the German language is Urlaub,鈥� which means vacation.
Berlin
Berlin, the national capital, is a cosmopolitan, big-city melting pot, where the energy of post-Communist eastern Europe meets the west. As well as five universities, it has four specialist institutes of higher education and about 100 research establishments related to the life-sciences, including the German Human Genome Project and Charit茅 University Hospital, Europe鈥檚 largest teaching hospital.
Berlin is also home to Germany鈥檚 largest pharma firm. Bayer Schering Pharma was created late last year when Bayer and Schering merged. The move shook the industry, not least because of the resulting loss of thousands of jobs. As Russell observes, a hire-and-fire policy is generally taboo in Germany, and this can come as a surprise to foreigners. 鈥淭he expectation in Germany is that if you have a job, you will stay in it for a very long time. People expect a great deal from their employers.鈥�
This doesn鈥檛 mean that researchers moving to Germany can expect an easy ride. Postdocs in particular may be in for a surprise in the shape of what some call the country鈥檚 鈥渟uper PhD鈥�. To become eligible for an academic post, newly qualified postdocs must go through 鈥渉abilitation鈥� 鈥� writing a second thesis and authoring a number of high-quality scientific publications. 鈥淚t takes such a long time to get a permanent position,鈥� says Eric Guenzi, who moved to Berlin from France in the early 1990s to do his PhD and postdoc. 鈥淚t makes it very risky, because the older you are, the less opportunity you have to switch to other careers.鈥� Guenzi elected to leave academia, and worked in Italy and Germany before taking up his current position at MediGene in Munich, as associate director for immunology research.
Johanna H枚枚g, who has just completed her PhD at the EMBL, is not troubled by an extended student life and sees no problem with the prospect of continuing her career in Germany rather than her native Sweden. In January she will be moving to the University of Oxford to do a postdoc, but afterwards wants to live in southern Germany. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic,鈥� she says. 鈥淰ery similar to home but warmer and nicer.鈥�
Integrating was easy for H枚枚g 鈥� Swedes and Germans share many similarities 鈥� and she found the differences in culture more welcome than jarring. 鈥淕ermans are much more direct than Swedes, but I like that. You always know where you stand.鈥� Her one difficulty was with Germany鈥檚 meat-based cuisine. 鈥淚 miss seafood,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he shrimps on Friday night. That was a tough one.鈥�
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