Healthcare industry

The latest articles, press releases and dossiers on red biotechnology in Baden-Württemberg

The latest articles, press releases and dossiers on medical technology in Baden-Württemberg

The latest articles, press releases and dossiers on pharmaceutics in Baden-Württemberg

The Baden-Württemberg research and business landscape is characterised by a large number of clusters, networks and bioregions.

Baden-Württemberg is home to numerous technology parks and thus offers an excellent infrastructure and attractive high-tech locations for life sciences companies in close proximity to scientific excellence. Young companies and business start-ups particularly stand to benefit from the opportunities for cooperation with other companies and research institutions in the technology parks and also from the relatively cheap rents for office and…

Setting up an independent company is an excellent way to turn innovative life sciences solutions into successful new products and services. Baden-Württemberg is highly attractive for business startups. As one of the leading German states in the fields of healthcare and biotechnology, Baden-Württemberg has an attractive and stimulating environment for those seeking to set up their own company. Baden-Württemberg has a high density of innovative…

The web portals below provide a comprehensive overview of the study and training opportunities in the Baden-Württemberg healthcare sector.

The Baden-Württemberg healthcare industry – a recession-proof employer that has strong ties with the region - is of key importance for the state. It comprises the biotechnology and medical technology sectors and the pharmaceutical industry. In 2019, the industry with 98,619 employees generated revenues of over 25 billion euros.

Medical technology is indispensible for human health and contributes a great deal to improving the quality of our lives. The field of medical technology covers many areas. These range from simple disposable products and consumables such as dressing materials and other clinical supplies, to IT-related telemedicine, homecare and eHealth systems as well as high-technology and innovative robotics, imaging, diagnostics and life-support systems. 842…

Baden-Württemberg is Germany’s largest pharma location. In addition to industry giants such as Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim, Baden-Württemberg is home to a large number of small- and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies with pharmaceutical research and development.

Baden-Württemberg is currently home to 188 biotechnology companies. In addition to dedicated biotechnology companies, this also includes bioinformatics, diagnostics and analytics companies that use modern biotechnology methods or focus on biotechnological production.

Dossier - 13/04/2015

Boosting the immune system can improve cancer prevention and treatment

The activation of the body’s immune system to fight cancer is not only a promising therapeutic concept, but is already used in medical practice. The first immunotherapies have been approved and many more are either in the experimental stages or already undergoing clinical testing. Vaccines to prevent certain types of cancer are already being used successfully around the world.

Article - 07/04/2015

How human lives can be saved by measuring respiratory flow

First aid at the site of an accident can save many lives. Initial assistance is very often given by non-experts. In order to help these first-aiders in what are difficult circumstances, Karl Küfner GmbH & Co. KG from Albstadt and the HSG-IMIT (Institut für Mikro- und Informationstechnik) from Villingen-Schwenningen have developed a respiratory flow sensor for first-aiders which gives visual and acoustic information during resuscitation.

Press release - 01/04/2015

Migrating immune cells promote nerve cell demise in the brain

The slow death of dopamine-producing nerve cells in a certain region of the brain is the principal cause underlying Parkinson's disease. In mice, it is possible to simulate the symptoms of this disease using a substance that selectively kills dopamine-producing neurons. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now shown for the first time in mouse experiments that after this treatment, cells of the peripheral immune…

Article - 30/03/2015

How psychological stress weakens the immune system

Too much stress makes you sick – this is the widely held opinion. But exactly how chronic psychological stress affects our body is not yet fully understood. This is the question Dr. Annette Sommershof and her team from the University of Konstanz are trying to answer. The scientists are exploring stress-related changes in the immune system and have found evidence for the observation that long-term stress weakens the immune system, resulting in…

Article - 23/03/2015

cytena GmbH facilitates the separation of single cells

cytena GmbH, a start-up company which was spun out from the Department of Microscystems Engineering (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg in 2014, has developed a device that enables single cells to be deposited safely and gently using a single-cell printer called cy-Clone. Once processed, the cells can be used to study tumour heterogeneity and to create clonal cell lines for producing antibodies.

Article - 23/03/2015

Crowdfunding: a new source of money for the healthcare sector?

Crowdfunding has become a popular widely-talked-about financing tool that opens up new ways of acquiring money for projects that might not otherwise receive backing. The financing model is based on the simple idea of raising many small amounts of capital to finance a large project. In early 2015 a company called Riboxx secured the capital it needed through a campaign on the Seedmatch crowdfunding platform. The German company aescuvest GmbH…

Press release - 19/03/2015

University of Freiburg to coordinate new Performance Center for Bioinformatics

The new RNA Bioinformatics Center (RBC) is a joint project of the Universities of Freiburg and Leipzig as well as the Max-Delbrück Center Berlin. It is one of six performance centers selected for funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and will receive 3.3 million euros in the next five years. It is part of the project “German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure,” which was launched on 1 March 2015.

Article - 16/03/2015

The critical balance between liver fibrosis and liver regeneration

When the liver has been damaged, a receptor protein of the hepatic stellate cells called endosialin controls the balance between liver repair and scar formation. A team of researchers from Heidelberg and Mannheim has shown that endosialin is a positive regulator of fibrogenesis and a negative regulator of hepatocyte proliferation. Endosialin therefore seems to be a promising therapeutic drug target in non-neoplastic settings.

Article - 16/03/2015

Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt - searching for novel antibiotics in bacteria

Microbial metabolic products can be used in the fight against dangerous pathogens such as multidrug-resistant bacteria. Since summer 2014, microbiologist Prof. Dr. Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt has been investigating the mechanisms of action of bacterial substances at the University of Tübingen with the aim of paving the way for new antibiotics. Interesting candidates have already been identified.

Article - 09/03/2015

Malaria: when an antimalarial drug is no longer fit for purpose

Malaria can be treated with atovaquone a drug that inhibits a particular enzyme in Plasmodia. However the parasites are becoming increasingly resistant to the drug. Carola Hunte and Dominic Birth from the Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Freiburg have shown how atovaquone binds to the protein and what happens at the molecular level in resistant plasmodia. Their research provides an impetus for structure-based drug design aimed at…

Article - 09/03/2015

Treating cancer by activating the immune system

Vaccines that prevent infection with cancer-causing viruses are already available. Moreover, the development of therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of a number of other cancers is well under way. These vaccines not only prevent the development of cancer, but also treat early stages of cancer. Antigen-armed antibodies have long been used in vaccines against infectious diseases, and can now also be used for treating cancer.

Dossier - 09/03/2015

Advances in the study and treatment of liver diseases

Liver diseases are often underestimated despite being quite common and potentially having serious and even life-threatening consequences, especially in chronic cases. The most common causes of liver diseases are hepatitis viruses, excessive alcohol consumption, and obesity; congenital or autoimmune liver diseases are quite rare. Thanks to advances in medical research, diseases such as hepatitis B and C can be treated effectively. Fewer advances…