Both founded in the early 90s, IZB in the Greater Munich area and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, China, have both successfully supported local entrepreneurship and were elemental for the locations to become the leading biotech areas in Europe and Asia, respectively.

On April 18, the group from Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park led by Mr. Wang Kelong, Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Zhangjiang Group, Chairman of Shanghai International Medical Park Group, visited IZB in Planegg-Martinsried and met with Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel, Managing Director of Innovation and Start-ups Center Biotechnology (IZB), each gave presentations about the key figures, development steps, innovations and deals of each site. Both parties expressed interest in potential future collaboration to enhance interactions between the sites in Europe and Asia and support start-ups in expanding their global footprint.

The Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park located in Shanghai´s Pudong district covers an area of 220 km² and is home to companies of digital information, artificial intelligence, and biopharmaceutics. The biomedical hub harbors over 82,000 employees, 7,000 companies, 5 academic institutions and 7 hospitals. The close vicinity of biomedical industry, research facilities and public service platforms has driven the local innovative development, enabling accumulative 59 companies to go public, 41 new therapeutics and 505 Class II and Class III medical devices beinglaunched to market. “The dimensions of the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park and the speed of implementing infrastructural improvements are formidable. It provides ideal surroundings for foreign companies that consider setting foot into the Asian market”, said Dr. Peter Hanns Zobel.

The Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB), one of the leading biotechnology centers in Europe, and home to over 50 biotech start-ups with over 700 employees are currently based on 26,000m² in Planegg-Martinsried. Mr Wong Kelong admired “the excellent output of IZB-originating companies and the density of high-quality research performed at IZB”. He further added: “The business model of IZB is quite unique and it is impressive that it has turned into a self-sustaining, profitable venture while at the same time supporting biotech start-ups to grow.” In the future, both life science incubators look forward to enabling start-ups to leverage the respective platforms and expand a global footprint.

SCG Cell Therapy, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies for infectious diseases and their associated cancers, established its cGMP-facility for cell therapy manufacturing in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park and its research laboratory at IZB in 2020 and 2021, respectively. “Headquartered in Singapore, our international structure leverages the local advantages of each site. We are grateful that both IZB and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park have supported SCG in its global development strategy”, said Dr. Karin Wisskirchen, Managing Director of SCG in Germany.