Life Sciences
Fertile ground for cutting-edge research and innovative companies
The Leipzig Region is one of the top locations for life sciences, both nationally and globally. The rapidly growing region covers an almost comprehensive spectrum of the industry and its sub-sectors.
From its inception in 2000, the Leipzig Region's life sciences industry has been geared towards establishing Leipzig as a leader in applied medical research and marketable healthcare innovation. Its stated aim is to rapidly develop and introduce new therapies, devices, and solutions into the EU’s primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare systems.
The diverse life science industry in the Leipzig Region includes; bioeconomy, health economy, biotechnology, medical technology, pharmaceutical industry, bioinformatics, digital health, pharmaceutical and medical logistics.
The Leipzig Region is a key research hub for several internationally renowned life sciences institutions such as the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ). Vita 34 – the leading private umbilical cord blood bank operator in Europe – also has its headquarters in the Leipzig Region.
Applied cutting-edge research in medicine, as well as future-oriented innovations in healthcare, form the focus of life sciences businesses in the Leipzig Region. The region’s enormous traction and competitiveness in the life sciences lead to rapid market launches of the latest developments – from bench to bedside.
40,000 students at the University of Leipzig (UoL) and other institutions of higher education
3,400 students at the Medical Faculty (Human and Dental Medicine) of the University of Leipzig
UoL‘s Faculty of Life Sciences (biochemistry, biology, psychology) records 1,500 graduate and 500 PhD students
Graduate programme Master of Science Clinical Research and Translational Medicine at the ZKS Akademie
Academy for Clean Room Work
Life sciences industry expertise in the Leipzig Region
The Leipzig Region is home to businesses across all sub-sectors of Life Sciences, giving your business access to skills, expertise and well-established partners and logistics connections.
In the field of innovative cell and gene therapeutics, the Leipzig Region occupies a leading position internationally. The site produces two of the eight advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) currently approved throughout the EU.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) is mainly responsible for the growing success of the sector by establishing complex manufacturing processes, R&D services for companies, and quality testing and manufacturing approvals.
Cell & gene therapy companies in the Leipzig Region
In Leipzig, CO.DON produces Spherox®, an ATMP for the regenerative treatment of articular cartilage damage using a patient’s cells, in one of the world’s largest and most advanced GMP facilities for the production of human cells.
Vita 34, founded in Leipzig in 1997, provides comprehensive solutions for the cryopreservation of stem cells from the umbilical cord and today is already Germany’s largest stem cell bank for personal provision.
Azenta Life Sciences has chosen Leipzig as the location for its European headquarters. The genomics products specialist supplies academic and industrial clients in medicine and pharma throughout Europe. The cluster of competence and the outstanding logistics infrastructure in the Leipzig Region were crucial factors in their decision to relocate here.
With the Leipzig Heart Institute (LHI) and the Innovation Centre for Computer-Assisted Surgery (ICCAS), the Leipzig Region is home to research institutions of international standing in the fields of cardiology and surgery.
The LHI develops pioneering treatment methods and publishes guideline-relevant studies worldwide. The ICCAS develops digital technologies for future clinical applications and evaluates novel medical technologies and therapeutic procedures. For companies in medical technology, it is also an established and certified cooperation partner according to EN ISO 13485.
Cardiology & surgery companies in the Leipzig Region
Surgical Process Institute (SPI) create digital technologies designed to transform the surgical experience helping surgeons and hospitals to deliver more synchronised, consistently high quality of care and efficiency in their operating rooms.
Realists Training Technologies GmbH provide services and manufacturer technologies ensuring visually and haptically lifelike training systems for educational purposes and events in the field of spine surgery.
ACL GmbH manufactures imaging hardware solutions for medicine and hygienically critical areas at its headquarters in the Leipzig Region.
The digital transformation in the healthcare industry and healthcare provision is a central field of action of the Life Sciences Cluster Leipzig. Laying the foundations for tomorrow’s medicine today, the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS), the Centre for Scaleable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (ScaDS), AIQNET, and the Smart Medical Information Technology for Healthcare (SMITH) programme at the University of Leipzig, are driving digital transformation in the Leipzig Region.
Bioinformatics, digital & e-health companies in the Leipzig Region
Raylytic has launched the UNITY science platform for AI-supported diagnostics. UNITY can automatically collect and analyse clinical data, patient-reported outcomes, and imaging data.
VivoSensMedical GmbH – develops diagnostic tools for use in the fields of autoimmune diseases, chronobiology and women’s health. Their OvulaRing is an approved medical device combining a biosensor and web-based evaluation software enabling users to monitor their cycle.
DOCYET is a leading Leipzig Region manufacturer of digital healthcare solutions. Supporting patients with a Health Guide and other applications to find their way around the healthcare system and use medical services locally and digitally, ensuring they make the right health decisions.
Research institutions, hospitals, companies, and start-ups work hand in hand on the research, development and market launch of innovative medical technology products and applications.
The Accelerator for Smart Medical Devices and Therapies (Medical Forge) led by biosaxony and supported by the City of Leipzig, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy helps international start-ups to develop market-ready product innovations for the European healthcare market, particularly in the areas of CE certification and reimbursement.
Medical technology companies in the Leipzig Region
Sonovum AG combines expertise in ultrasound acoustocerebrography with mathematics, statistics, medical technology and medicine to develop future-orientated products for monitoring the condition of neurological diseases.
Leipzig Region start-up Bellaseno develops and produces bioresorbable breast scaffolds using 3D printing from a biodegradable plastic that conforms to ISO 13485. The implant dissolves within two years, and the shape of reconstructed breasts is then maintained through the patient’s reinjected fatty tissue.
Self-diagnostics GmbH developed the first self-test STD Multitest and were swift to develop a reliable self-test in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Location advantages for life sciences
The Centre for Clinical Studies Leipzig (ZKS) – an institution of the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig – supports clinics of the University Hospital Leipzig, selected teaching hospitals and industrial partners in planning, conducting and evaluating clinical life sciences research projects, overseeing more than 350 clinical studies at the Leipzig site over the past ten years.
With its Life Science Campus, the Leipzig Region offers companies from biotechnology, medical technology, the pharmaceutical industry and bioinformatics the ideal ecosystem to grow and flourish.
The campus is home to the Medical and Veterinary Faculties of the University of Leipzig, the Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine, the biotechnological-biomedical incubator BIO CITY LEIPZIG and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI).
A further 500,000 square metres are currently being built on the Alte Messe Leipzig site to accommodate future growth in the life sciences. Speak to our team if you would like information on availability or future space on the Leipzig Life Science Campus.
The biotechnology and medical technology association biosaxony is part of the extremely lively life science cluster of the Leipzig Region. More than 130 companies, suppliers and stakeholders from all over Saxony belong to this association. Through fruitful business networking, science, health care providers and health insurance companies, biosaxony promotes innovation, technology transfer and market launches.
Together with the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Leipzig Region is part of the Leading-Edge BioEconomy Cluster. The core goal of the BioEconomy cluster is to bring together partners from industry and research for industrial usage and energy generation from non-food materials.
The Bioenergie Netz Leipzig is also located here. In addition, the region shines as a centre for industrial biotechnology, whose food and non-food solutions at the interface between ecology and economy find customers worldwide.
The Leipzig Region is one of the leading multimodal logistics locations in Germany and Europe providing excellent transport and logistics links for life sciences supply chains. More than 1,600 logistics companies are based here, including global players such as DB Schenker, Rhenus Logistics, Kühne+Nagel or World Courier with pharmaceutical and medical technology solutions.
In addition, DHL Express maintains its own Pharma Logistics Warehouse at Leipzig/Halle Airport with handling and storage capacities following the IATA CEIV Pharma Standard. An additional DHL “End of Runway” Integrated Solutions Center with ISO 13485 and GDP/GMP certifications provides time-definite delivery services.
Established, high-growth and promising industries such as the life sciences receive exceptional economic support in the Leipzig Region following the motto “Strengthen the strong”.
Consequently, development and promotion of the life sciences have top priority in Central Germany, the Free State of Saxony, and the Leipzig Region. This means there is substantial economic support available for:
- Foundation and growth of Life Sciences companies in the Leipzig Region
- Knowledge and technology transfer between business and science
- Expansion of scientific excellence
- Greater innovative strength and activity
- Supply of qualified, skilled labour
- Development of global markets
With its authoritative university landscape, the Leipzig Region offers a fertile environment for excellently trained young professionals in the life sciences.
In particular, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Leipzig train highly qualified medical and laboratory technicians. Specialist programmes such as the LernKlinik Leipzig, where 3,100 medical students can practise medical skills and imitate complex treatment situations on more than 200 simulators and phantoms, ensure the best possible preparation for a demanding profession in life sciences.
