Research
is carried out here
Our research focuses on: analytical chemistry, pharmaceutical
development and clinical research. Our findings lead to innovative
and proven quality compounds. In this way, we improve quality of
life for many people.
Here we produce ...
The main focus of our product portfolio is medication for pain and
diabetes therapy as well as for the treatment of disease relating to
the cardiac and circulatory system or the thyroid gland.
Patients have placed their trust in our medicines for over 100 years.
From here we apply our know how on the market ...
Especially in the eastern European markets; there we have over 31
representative offices. We supply patients worldwide within the
Italian Menarini Group network.
BERLIN-CHEMIE, a company in the Menarini Group, stands for
tradition and innovation from Berlin.
Tradition and Innovation based in Berlin
For more information:
BERLIN-CHEMIE AG · Glienicker Weg 125 · 12489 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 6707-0 · www.berlin-chemie.de
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Global Business
The Role of Berlin-Brandenburg in the
European Context
Internationalisation was the main watchword for the Bioregion Berlin-Brandenburg in 2011. The reason is not
hard to recognise: the region’s biotechnology companies earn the majority of their income abroad, and that
share is rising! Companies in the industry need to look beyond national boundaries – and that applies even
for very small ones. Especially they, however, often find it hard to implement an international strategy without
customised external support.
Internationalisation and the challenges it presents were ad-
dressed at an early stage by both European and regional poli-
cies. At the European level, the new research funding programme
Horizon 2020, which is to replace the old FP7, is of prime im-
portance. The European Commission is not only committed to
promoting the increased integration of research-intensive SMEs
in European funding programmes, but regards that as essential.
The details of the programme are currently being defined. Two
things are already clear:
1. Horizon 2020 will incorporate and harmonise all EU research
funding activities, have a total funding volume of 80 billion
Euros and devote a large share of those funds to the support
of innovative SMEs.
2. Berlin and Brandenburg are currently positioning themselves
to ensure that their interests will be secured by H2020 and
be prepared to benefit from the programme when it enters
into operation.
At the regional level, the increasing importance of internationali-
sation was also an important theme at the 4th Innovation Summit
of Berlin and Brandenburg in August 2011. Here, Brandenburg’s
Minister for Economic and European Affairs, Ralf Christoffers,
launched a passionate appeal to the summit participants to seize
the opportunities Europe provides and make use of the potential
they offer.
Berlin meets Brussels
This appeal is reflected in the theme of this year’s ‘Dialogforum’,
a joint annual event of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg with
the European Commission which was first held in 2007. Under
the title “Improving Health for the Ageing Society” entrepreneurs
from Berlin-Brandenburg in the fields of molecular diagnostics,
medical engineering and regenerative medicine will engage in
discussion with high-ranking representatives from European in-
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stitutions and other life science regions in Brussels on 30 May
2012. The aim of the event is, on the one hand, to present in-
novative project proposals in the life sciences and receive direct
feedback from the Commission‘s experts and programme direc-
tors. At the same time, the Commission is to receive first-hand
reports about the experience of the companies represented with
EU institutions and their funding instruments. This also provides
companies with an opportunity to present their own input for
the design of future funding programmes like Horizon 2020 and
secure good positions on the starting line as funding candidates.
The event is truly European in character due to the participation
of many European SMEs and regional representatives from Den-
mark, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Sweden with
whom Berlin-Brandenburg has networked intensively for many
years and already cooperated in a range of projects. The dinner
reception at the "Dialogforum" presents an exclusive opportunity
for direct exchange with these European partners and with ex-
perts and politicians from Berlin-Brandenburg and the European
Union.
European networks – Old friends, new formats
Active cooperation in the networks of Europe’s BioRegions has
played a central role in the internationalisation efforts in our re-
gion. BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg is a founding member of the
networks Council of European Bioregions (CEBR) and ScanBalt
– a biotech network of the Baltic Sea states that celebrated its
10th anniversary in Heringsdorf on the island of Usedom in 2011.
Through the Center for Molecular Diagnostics and Bioanalytics
(ZMDB), the region is also a founding member of the still young
European Diagnostic Clusters Alliance (EDCA), a network of lead-
ing European diagnostics clusters which currently represents
more than 400 companies from the member regions. As the only
German region in this network to date, Berlin-Brandenburg is re-
garded as one of the most high-performing regions in the alliance
as regards both the number of companies and research facilities
engaged in diagnostics development and the structures already
established here (the ZMDB as a coordination platform and driver
with a very clear focus). A main goal of this new European al-
liance is to provide targeted support to companies in the field
of in-vitro diagnostics by means of customised support offers,
activities and formats. The first attempt to combine European
partnering especially for diagnostics companies with a regional
conference was successfully made with the Euromediag Interna-
tional Convention (EIC) in summer 2011. With 127 participants
from seven European countries, and 237 B-2-B meetings, the
event made a promising start. The sequel will take place in June
2012 at the 4
th
Berlin-Brandenburg Technology Forum on In-vitro
Diagnostics and Bioanalysis, which is being co-organised by the
region’s Enterprise Europe Network, setting a positive signal for
Berlin-Brandenburg and Europe.
A success story from Berlin-Brandenburg:
The Trilateral Event 2011
As in the years before, scientists from France, Britain and Ger-
many met in the French Embassy in Berlin in September 2011
for one and a half days of expert exchanges on the theme of
„Innovative Health-Promoting Food“.
Discussion focused on the latest research, developments and ap-
plications in the fields of nutrigenomics and functional food. Now
running in its 7th year, the event is gaining recognition both as
a high-level expert forum and as a partnering platform for sci-
entific cooperation in Europe that is finding increasing interest
among many target groups throughout Europe.
Dr. Stéphane Roy
Scientific Attaché
French Embassy in Germany
The reinforcement of the partnership between France and
Germany in the field of biomedical research is a key element
of our strategy with BioTOP. The goal is to exchange the know-
how of different partners and develop new collaborations in
cutting edge fields. This approach has proven highly success-
ful for the last ten years.