Bavarian government fractions strengthen research on corona treatment with 50 million euros

The government factions of FREE VOTERS and CSU want to add a fourth pillar to the Bavarian corona strategy consisting of prevention, comprehensive corona tests and the development of vaccines: A Bavarian Therapy Strategy is to support promising Bavarian therapeutic approaches and bring them to approval.

The therapy strategy is to be provided with EUR 50 million from the “Special Corona Pandemic Fund” to accelerate the development of drugs and therapies. The funding will be particularly effective where promising research projects are not implemented quickly enough due to market failure or difficult, protracted financing. The aim is to exploit the manifold potentials that Bavaria has as a biotechnology and medical location with a leading international position.

Specifically, the following therapeutic approaches in particular are promoted and supported:

  • Scientific research projects at Bavarian university hospitals that test existing therapeutics in new combinations and fields of application.
  • Therapeutic approach using mesenchymal stem cells to generate alpha-1-antitrypsin to reduce the risk of a severe course of COVID 19 infection by strengthening the body’s immune response.
  • Research project of the Center for Allergy and Environment (ZAUM) and the ENT Clinic at the Klinikum rechts der Isar to reduce the spread of the SARS-COV2 virus in the body.
  • Development project of the Planegger company “Ethris” for an mRNA molecule with the genetic information of a neutralizing antibody.
  • All concepts submitted for funding should be selected on the basis of an independent scientific, technological and “clinically relevant” evaluation.

CSU faction leader Thomas Kreuzer commented: “As important as vaccinations will be, it is equally necessary to develop effective drugs in the fight against corona, especially to prevent severe disease progression. Because the vaccinations will last and not all will be vaccinated. Therefore, treatment is a very important factor alongside prevention and vaccination. We have excellent medical and biotechnology research in Bavaria. I am therefore certain that we can succeed in making important contributions from Bavaria to the effective treatment of corona patients. With our therapy strategy we are setting a further visible accent in the fight against corona”.

Florian Streibl, Chairman of the FREIE WÄHLER state parliament faction, commented: “As an innovative high-tech location, Bavaria also has world-leading top companies in the field of biotechnology that can develop urgently needed products and measures for the therapy of Covid-19. The government factions of the CSU and FREE VOTERS are proud of this ‘high-tech made in Bavaria’ and will therefore support the biotechnology sector, which is in great demand in the Corona pandemic, with a total of 50 million euros. With our jointly developed therapy strategy, we are once again demonstrating the innovative strength and capacity for action of the Bavarian coalition – and the harmonious cooperation between the government factions is once again proving to be an important source of input”.

f.l.t.r. Dr. Manfred Gröppel, COO Immunic Therapeutics, Dr. Tim Gehrke; Tim Gehrke Senior Scientis R & D Ella Biotech; Dr. Federico Buersgens, CEO GNA Biosolutions; Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, GF IZB; Dr. Michael Thormann, GF Origenis; Staatsministerin Kerstin Schreyer, MDL; Dr. Mikkel Noerholm, Vice Vice President Business Development Exosome a Biotechne brand; Dr. Adrian Schomburg, GF Eisbach Bio; Dr. Konstantin Petropoulos, Vice President Business Development LEUKOCARE , Manfred Nafziger, Bürgermeister Planegg.

Tobias Reiß, the parliamentary secretary of the CSU faction: “Therapies with alpha-1-antitrypsin producing stem cells or with inhaled mRNA-encoded neutralizing antibodies: In Bavaria, work is already underway on improved therapy options and procedures for the development of novel combinations of known active ingredients or the production of innovative therapeutics. And this is where we come in! We want to pool the Bavarian know-how of university hospitals, research institutions and our world-leading biotechnology cluster in the fight against corona and will provide a total of €50 million in funding for the most promising therapeutic approaches for an efficient therapy strategy”.

Fabian Mehring, Parliamentary Director of FREIEN WÄHLER, commented: “With the Bavarian therapy strategy, we are adding a fourth pillar to the corona policy of our Bavarian coalition from the center of parliament. While we keep an overview of the occurrence of infections through targeted tests, prevention rules and vaccines are intended to contain the pandemic. Nevertheless, the virus will continue to accompany us for a long time to come, which is why we are now launching a research turbo to improve the treatment of people suffering from Covid-19 and prevent severe courses of the disease as far as possible. We are not operating in a vacuum, but on the fertile soil of Bavaria’s biotechnology and medicine location, which is a top international location even beyond Corona. With a funding of 50 million euros, we want to bundle these forces in the fight against the pandemic and lead the development of innovative therapeutics from Bavaria. Now that the debate on the involvement of the State Parliament in Bavaria’s corona strategy has recently drifted strongly into the formal legal realm, we are showing that there are other ways of doing things and are actively shaping the State Government’s corona policy with this initiative on the part of the government factions”.

Kerstin Schreyer, Bavarian Minister of State for Building, Housing and Transport, as well as member of the constituency for the Planegg site, has maintained close contact with the Biotechnology Innovation and Start-up Center for many years. On August 17, 2020, she visited the seven start-ups that are researching on Corona at the IZB and gained insights into the importance of drug development against COVID-19. Eisbach Bio GmbH, Immunic Therapeutics and Origenis GmbH presented the state of research to her and asked for support from the Bavarian State Government in financing their drug development. GNA Biosolutions and Exosome Diagnostics developed Corona Test. Ella Biotech increased production to provide components for the numerous tests.