Life Sciences: Well-Rooted in Northern Germany
Life sciences play a special role in Northern Germany. The combination of innovation and traditional infrastructure provides a unique environment for medical engineering, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Medical engineering has traditionally been well established in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. Northern Germany’s forte lies in the size and market dominance of the companies based here. As regards R&D in the field of medical engineering, no other region has such well-developed economic structures and such favourable locational conditions. Around 11,500 employees generate an annual turnover of approximately 3.9 billion Euro here. In the “Life Science Nord” region, large companies such as Olympus, Philips Medizin Systeme, Dräger Medical and Johnson & Johnson Medical develop and produce innovative solutions for the global pharmaceutical market. But also small and medium-sized enterprises are wellrooted in the medical engineering sector, making up the majority of those 300 or more companies involved. A special focus of these SME lies on imaging and surgical technologies. In the “Life Science Nord” region, the biotechnology sector is also characterised by a broad business base: around 8,200 people involved in research on biotechnology for medical and industrial use are employed by around 150 companies in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The region’s biotechnology sector is closely connected with the pharmaceutical industry: several major drug manufacturers and large commercial enterprises operate in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.
