Marburg: a strong location

A press release by the University City of Marburg

“Marburg may not be New York, but we have both cutting-edge international research and one of the largest pharmaceutical locations in all of Germany in our city,” says Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies. ‘This results in great potential for development.’ However, these strengths must be made more visible in the national and international competition between business and science locations. The city leader, the heads of the university and the Behring companies are in agreement on this. After all, Marburg should continue to compete for students, researchers and skilled workers in the future.

Marburg – a location for science and business

It helps that the distances in what Spies calls “the smallest metropolis in the world” are as short as the lines between decision-makers. The city, university and companies want to make better use of this location advantage: under the slogan “bridge building”, several collaborations for “skilled workers/training and further education” and “research and development” have already been established since 2023. The goal: to strengthen Marburg as an efficient research and production location. At the same time, the qualities of Marburg's science and economy should become more visible – in the city and region as well as nationally and internationally. And thirdly, all three cooperation partners are working on making Marburg one of the top addresses internationally for start-ups in the biotech, pharmaceutical and life science industries.

New master's program, new school-based training for pharmaceutical technicians

The Behring site is primarily a production site: GSK, Siemens, CSL and, of course, BioNTech manufacture vaccines, diagnostic devices, plasma therapies and other products for global markets there. However, research is mainly conducted at other sites of the international corporations. Only CSL has brought together around 500 employees for its own research under the umbrella of CSL Innovation in the new R&D building in Görzhausen. At the same time, the Philipps University of Marburg lacked engineering or process engineering degree programs with a biotechnological focus. If these had existed, the graduates would have been optimally trained for the work at the Behring site.

For years, the city of Marburg has provided the framework for better networking between the city, the university and the site. This has recently been intensified once again and is increasingly bearing fruit: in particular, joint developments in training and studies, but also the transfer of innovation and scientific ideas into concrete products, are now being tackled jointly by all partners.

A major step was the accreditation of the new master's program in molecular biotechnology at the Philipps University in 2023. “The program offers many opportunities for practical research, including collaborations with industry partners and internships at leading biotech companies,” explains University President Prof. Dr. Thomas Nauss. “In this way, we offer students an education with the prospect of later finding suitable jobs in Marburg.” The university intends to further close the gap between the courses offered by the university and the skills in demand at the location, and to further expand joint research. A current example of this is lung research, in which the university and several companies are already working together on active ingredients for better treatment of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Since December 2023, there has been a second line of research into RNA molecules in misdirected immune cycles.

Another key moment is the introduction of school-based training for pharmaceutical technicians at the Adolf Reichwein School from the start of the new school year in August. The relocation of the school from Frankfurt to Marburg is a real win-win situation for apprentices and students from the region as well as for companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Such joint successes are particularly important for attracting and promoting young talent from the region.

Innovation, foundation, start-up and spin-off

Pulling together, promoting the city and jointly marketing the location – this was the aim of Spies, Nauss and Egger's first joint appearance at the international real estate and location trade fair Expo Real in Munich at the beginning of October. Under the title “Marburg – a secret economic and scientific giant”, they presented joint activities designed to improve the infrastructure for start-ups and secure the long-term supply of skilled workers in Marburg. These include the joint promotion of innovation, the “Creativity and Social Innovation Hub Marburg” (CIM) and the “Innovation Hub” at the pharmaceutical site. The city, the site and the university are pulling together on the “Innovation Hub” in particular. They have been working together on a concept since last year to further develop start-up ideas in Marburg and to transfer them into companies in the long term. There is a particular lack of laboratory capacity for innovations in the field of life science. The Behring site is now taking countermeasures.

Pharmaserv is currently planning a complete redesign of the Berghof site in Marbach. After the demolition of several buildings, an innovation hub with around 11,500 square meters will be built on the site, where start-ups and companies from the biotech and life science industry can flexibly rent laboratory space. In addition to exclusive units of up to 908 square meters, flexibly bookable laboratories starting at 74 square meters are also planned. “We want to develop the area in a future-oriented way and create space for innovation,” says Dr. Martin Egger, Managing Director of Infrareal Holding and Pharmaserv.

In addition, around 800 square meters have already been reserved in the new R&D building at CSL Innovation in Görzhausen: “We want to offer young start-up teams the opportunity to further develop their product ideas. By providing premises and support structures, we are strengthening the start-up scene and thus innovative ideas,” says Dr. Lars Grönke, Managing Director of CSL Innovation.

The whole thing then has to be filled with life, with equipment and structures. The city of Marburg is helping to implement these structures. “The budget includes funds for the development process and for equipment in the long term,” says Mayor Spies. Spies believes that this form of economic development will also benefit the city. “Behring was also once a small start-up, and today the taxes from the site finance a large part of the city's income,” says Spies. Now, the task is to create optimal conditions together so that such stories can be repeated – for jobs, for vaccines and new therapies. And in Marburg.

Thomas Spies, Thomas Nauss and Martin Egger are certain that “Marburg will become significantly more attractive and appealing as a result of all these successful collaborations”. An overall marketing strategy for the Marburg location is also intended to support this. Work on this will begin this year.