Among the companies that have seen the champagne corks popping lately is Curetis AG, based in Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart. This biotech company, founded in the STERN BioRegion eight years ago, raised EUR 40 million in a flotation on Euronext (Amsterdam and Brussels) – a far higher figure than expected. The diagnostics company has developed an analytical device to detect infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance that delivers results of a DNA analysis after just a few hours instead of a few days, as was previously the case. The company is now valued at around EUR 150 million.

Tübingen-based CureVac GmbH has also had good reason to celebrate. After the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invested EUR 46 million in this innovative vaccination devel-oper in the spring, the company has now secured another EUR 100 million of capital in a new round of financing, thus achieving one of the largest capital increases in the German biotech sector to date.

Since 2001, the team at BioRegio STERN Management GmbH under the management of Dr. Klaus Eichenberg has provided support to numerous companies on their road to success. The business development specialist is currently observing a new startup boom: “Atriva Therapeutics GmbH in Tübingen, for example, is making a name for itself at the moment. This startup is developing a flu drug intended to replace the drugs currently on the market.” Other examples of startups in the region include CENATA GmbH from Tübingen, which has just received a licence for a non-invasive screening test for risk-free antenatal examinations. Venneos GmbH is developing a silicon chip-based imaging system for analysing biological cells. This innovative measuring method can show cellular changes that remain invisible using other technologies. The Stuttgart-based company is one of the winners of the 2015 Science4Life competition and picked up over EUR 1 million in a round of financing in July. The consortium of investors includes the High-Tech Foundation Fund HTGF, which is currently investing in a whole range of other companies in the region. In September, Biametrics GmbH from Tübingen concluded a round of financing worth EUR 3.1 million involving the Foundation Fund for the further development of label-free analytic devices for the life sciences sector. Tübingen-based Computomics GmbH also benefited from an investment by HTGF in October. This plant biotech startup offers bioinformatic analysis services for seeds in order to provide information about resistance to drought or pests.

The region, which features a unique mix of small and medium-sized medtech companies and up-and-coming biotech enterprises, is also home to SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement. This year, this Tübingen-based company attracted EUR 125 million for its fourth fund, thereby creating one of Europe’s largest industry funds investing in companies from the life sciences and medtech industries.

For 14 years, BioRegio STERN Management GmbH has been supporting regional com-panies in establishing themselves among the top-ranking players, both in Germany and internationally. “The successes are also the result of years of collaboration with researchers, new business founders and entrepreneurs that is founded on trust,” explains Dr. Eichenberg.