Statistics
German Biotechnology in 2005
Just two decades ago, biotechnology in was taking its first developmental steps in the marketplace. Today, it is firmly established as a commercial branch. This is the picture emerging from the recent national biotechnology survey, taking in biotech companies of all sizes from across , and carried out by biotechnologie.de on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). For the first time in this sector, the data complies with statistical standards as set by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), allowing for a reliable and internationally comparable description of the German biotech landscape.
Age structure
As the following table clearly shows, the German biotech sector is still a very young industry sector. At the end of 2005, the average age of the dedicated biotechnology companies came to 6.9 years. Only companies that were active in 2005 were included in the survey.
Age structure of dedicated biotech companies by year of foundation
| Year of foundation | Number of dedicated biotech companies | Percentage |
| before 1995 | 92 | 19,2% |
| 1995 | 9 | 1,9% |
| 1996 | 18 | 3,8% |
| 1997 | 40 | 8,3% |
| 1998 | 46 | 9,6% |
| 1999 | 38 | 7,9% |
| 2000 | 66 | 13,8% |
| 2001 | 50 | 10,4% |
| 2002 | 36 | 7,4% |
| 2003 | 35 | 7,3% |
| 2004 | 35 | 7,3% |
| 2005 | 15 | 3,1% |
| Gesamt | 480 | 100% |
Source: Biotechnology company survey 2006 by biotechnologie.de
A fifth of the companies (19.2%) had already been founded by 1995. This points to a significant number of companies which have already reached a certain maturity. Likewise, the German ‘founding boom’ can be clearly seen in the years following the BioRegio competition, initiated by the BMBF in 1995 (see fig. 2) which ran in parallel the high value of shares on the German stock exchanges (new markets). Half of all current existing dedicated Biotech companies were created in the years between 1997 and 2001.
Distribution of dedicated biotech companies by year of foundation, in percent
Source: biotechnologie.de
Source: Biotechnology company survey 2006 by biotechnologie.de