In many fields, the North is the leading region of Germany with its innovative products and practice-oriented research. In the fields of molecular imaging, inflammation research or industrial biotechnology, effective regional networks have established. The close cooperation of partners from science and business is focussed on securing the transfer of research results into practice. In ScanBalt activities, the North is strongly represented through the founding member Norgenta.

Winner of the BMBF BioPharma Competition:
NEU² - North German Consortium for the Development of New Therapies Against Neurological Diseases

The consortium NEU² focusses on the development of therapeutic and diagnostic approaches against Multiple Sclerosis, starting from basic research and ending with entering the market. Mostly North German research institutions, biotech companies and a pharma partner are involved in the project. The consortium is financed through a kind of fonds mainly established with private capital. It understands itself as a role model for the development of a risk financed life science portfolio. In its establishment phase it concentrates on one indication within neurological diseases and will include further partners in long-term.

 

 

NEU² - Neue Wirkstoffe gegen neurologische Erkrankungen (pdf, 60kb, German only)

European Center for Modern Drug Discovery - European ScreeningPort GmbH

With the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Evotect AG and the North German Life Science Agency Norgenta GmbH, a highly modern service center for the research into new drugs was established in September 2007. Already in its starting phase, the projects has a financial volume of more than 7 million Euro.

 

ScreeningPort provides the missing link in Europe between academic research

and the pharmaceutical industry. The research centre will accelerate translating promising results generated in basic research on the causes

of diseases into new therapeutics. Together with a network of European research institutions it produces a model case for drug discovery and development.

 

Embedded in the professional Evotec service infrastructure, it is designed to mine this deep source of medical innovation and to translate academic research into early drug discovery projects.

 

You can find detailed information and press releases on the following page

 

European ScreeningPort GmbH or on the Homepage.

The cluster of excellence
"Inflammation at interfaces"

Inflammations of the human body often start on outer or inner surfaces. Infection pathogens come into contact with the skin, colon, lung or other vessels. This provokes a repelling reaction, which can then develop into an illness, if it continues over a long period of time or damages the affected organs.

 

In the light of an increased occurrence of inflammation diseases, they may be understood as a phenomenon of modern civilization. Over one hundred academics and scientists from Schleswig-Holstein are following this up within the "Network in inflammation Research". The following pdf-file contains detailed information on the cluster of excellence.

 

Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces" (pdf-file)

Molecular Imaging in North Germany

The North represents an excellent location for developing and applying molecular imaging techniques due to the North’s joint expertise in Medical- and Biotechnology. This knowledge derives from the universities and their medical centers as well as from businesses and institutions in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical sector.

Molecular imaging is already one of the research focuses of many regional businesses and academic institutions. The activities of the different partners have been concentrated through the focussed granting of research awards. Following an approach based primarily on the application of the technology, has facilitated the medium-term transfer of molecular imaging into every day clinic life. The research & development at the Hamburg-Eppendorf and Schleswig-Holstein University Medical Centers, in particular, is addressing the complete spectrum of clinical requirements: from biochemical investigations such as the design of new tracers up to technical challenges in the development of new optical imaging tools.

 

In the following pdf-file you can find further detailed information.

Molecular Imaging in North Germany (pdf-file)

Centrum for Applied Nanotechnology

CAN operates as a public-private partnership and focuses on using new nanotechnology know-how – the latest success is the development of fluorescent nanoparticles.

 

CAN’s main function is to offer contract research and development services in the field of nanotechnology and nanoparticle analysis usable. CAN acts as a kind of transmission belt. It assists in evaluating what know-how from university research is of value for industry and what know-how can be translated into concrete research projects that are worth funding. If you would like to learn more about CAN please take a look at the following pdf-file.

 

Center for Applied Nanotechnolgy (pdf-file)

Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean"

Within the Cluster of Excellence, a network of researchers at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel (CAU) and the participating Leibniz Institutes will, hence, investigate past, present and future ocean change, explore marine resources, develop strategies for their sustainable use and study hazards arising from the seas. Marine science is by its very nature an interdisciplinary scientific field of study.

 

The Cluster will expand this research approach by including experts from disciplines which are not traditionally seen as marine, such as medicine, economics, social sciences and law, to study the environmental, socio-economic and legal aspects of the ocean in a truly multidisciplinary approach. Nowhere previously have experts from this wide range of disciplines and proven excellence come together to focus on questions of such key relevance to the Future Ocean. The research program here proposed will, therefore, significantly broaden and enhance the understanding of the ocean - understanding which is needed to provide sound guidance to decision makers.

 

In the following pdf-file you can find further information on the Cluster of Excellence.

 

Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean"(pdf-file)

Initiative Industrial Biotechnology North - IBN

With the aim of strengthening industrial biotechnology in research and development, experts from the 5 North German federal states have joined forces and founded the Industrial Biotechnology North (IBN) Initiative.

The chairman of the IBN initiative is Prof. Dr. Garabed Antranikian, Head of the Institute for Technical Microbiology in Hamburg. The foundation was initiated in the most northern states, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, by the Hamburg TuTech Innovation GmbH and the Schleswig-Holstein Innovationsstiftung at the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg on May 29, 2006. Already three months later this circle was expanded by representatives from three further northern states: Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Niedersachsen. Thus, a strong northern initiative has been established concentrating the existing expertise in the field of industrial biotechnology.

The cluster concept "Nachhaltige Biokatalyse auf neuen Wegen - Biokatalyse 2021" ("New concepts for sustainable biocatalysis - Biocatalysis 2021") which originates from the IBN inititative and has been submitted to the cluster competition "BioIndustrie 2021" initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been selected for funding. The consortium will receive an amount of 20 million Euros in the coming 5 years. Within this network, scientists from North German Universities work together in a unique and exemplary way with industry partners from all over Germany. The aim is to strengthen the biotechnology location Germany within the international competition.

If you would like to know more about the IBN, you can download further information here.

Industrial Biotechnology North (pdf-file, German only)