Biotech boom or decline? The big report for Germany 2025!

Biotech boom or decline? The big report for Germany 2025!

The “German Biotech Report 2025”, which was presented by BIO Deutschland and EY in a digital press conference on May 20th, shows a mixed situation in German biotechnology. While investment in the industry has seen significant growth, the sector is also facing a decline in sales and employment. Loud transcript.de Investments in pharmaceutical biotechnology increased by 78% to 1.9 billion euros in 2024 compared to 1.1 billion euros in 2023. These figures are particularly impressive when investments in vaccine developers during the pandemic are taken out of consideration.

The report also shows an increase in the number of biotechnology companies and subsidiaries, which now number 823, an increase of 39 companies. However, despite this positive development, the sector recorded an 8% reduction in turnover to 11 billion euros. Employment in the industry fell 5% to 56,093 jobs, after a 10% increase in 2023.

Research expenditures and clinical trials

Research and development spending rose 4%, indicating that despite challenges in other areas, investment in innovation and new technologies continues. With regard to clinical studies, a total of 174 studies were carried out in 2024, which is a slight increase compared to 2023. It is particularly worth mentioning that the time from application to start of studies in Germany is twice as long as in Great Britain or the USA. The introduction of standard contractual clauses could make this easier in the future by shortening negotiations between hospitals and study sponsors.

However, the funding highs in the industry appear to be coming to an end. In the first quarter of 2025, only 130 million euros in financing flowed, which corresponds to a drastic decrease of 78% compared to the first quarter of 2024. While M&A value increased to €3.8 billion, actual transactions fell from 22 in 2023 to just ten in 2024, underscoring the challenges for M&A exits in Germany.

Global comparisons and outlook

An international comparison shows that biotech investments in Germany only make up 0.02% of gross domestic product, while the figures in Great Britain are 0.05%, in Denmark 0.07% and in Switzerland 0.08%. The difference becomes even clearer in the venture capital sector: an impressive 16.7 billion euros were invested in the USA, which is four times as much as in Europe, where only 5.7 billion euros were invested in VC.

The report entitled “Can the German biotech sector catch up in the global race?” will be presented in various bioregions in the coming weeks. The next dates for the road show are Martinsried on June 3rd, Tübingen on June 4th, Hamburg on June 5th, Düsseldorf on June 11th and Hanover in August, each in cooperation with regional organic partners. The full report is available on the EY website to provide those interested with a deeper insight into the latest industry numbers and trends.