In the past 30 years, Germany has developed a biotechnology sector comprising more than 800 companies. Around 20 to 30 new companies are founded each year. Through the GO-Bio programme, the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space contributes to ensuring that promising new start-ups can continue to emerge.

Between 2005 and 2025, a total of 63 projects out of 812 submitted proposals were selected for funding across nine rounds of the GO-Bio programme. Of these, 23 projects received funding in the second funding phase following the successful completion of the first phase or entered the programme as lateral entrants.

Overall, GO-Bio funding has so far resulted in more than 44 company formations or the commencement of operational business activities. This corresponds to a start-up rate of around 70 percent. In addition, the supported start-ups have already attracted more than three billion euros from investors and development partners.

Particularly successful examples include BioNTech with its COVID-19 vaccine, Ethris GmbH with a new class of mRNA therapeutics, iThera Medical with innovative imaging technologies, Corimmun through a partial sale to Janssen-Cilag, Rigontec, which was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. (MSD), and CatalYm, which raised 100 million euros in venture capital. Seamless Therapeutics is also among the programme’s recent success stories: through a development partnership with Eli Lilly and Company, the company secured potential investments of up to 1.12 billion US dollars.