Cancer medicine gives Saxon companies a strong growth boost

Dresden. Saxony's economic promoters have a new buzzword: after Silicon Saxony and its microchip factories, a Radiopharmaceutical Valley is now emerging in the biotechnology sector. This includes several manufacturers of slightly radioactive substances that can detect or combat cancer in the human body.

Within ten years, the Radeberg-based company ABX has grown from 200 to 350 employees. This year, turnover is expected to rise from 51 to around 75 million euros, and ABX Advanced Biochemical Compounds GmbH once again has major construction plans. Head of Development Marco Müller, a chemist, presented them on Thursday at the Life Sciences Forum at the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf.

According to Müller, ABX's laboratories, production and waste facilities in Radeberg are spread across around a dozen buildings. This causes long journeys. The first floor of the chemical building is currently being rebuilt, but a very large new building with six floors is likely to follow soon: the company headquarters could cost 100 million euros. ABX already has the expansion space of 34,000 square metres on Pillnitzer Strasse in Radeberg.

Three cyclotrons accelerate particles

The Radeberg-based company claims to be the market leader in certain materials for the detection of tumours in positron emission tomography. ABX was founded in 1997 and has been part of the Japanese group Otsuka Pharmaceuticals since 2006. The German pharmaceutical company has US approval for the drug Pluvicto for the treatment of prostate cancer and French approval for Radelumin for diagnosis. ABX in Radeberg also has four plants for the aseptic filling of pharmaceuticals.

During the conference, Dirk Freitag-Stechl, owner of CUP Laboratorien Dr Freitag in Radeberg, was enthusiastic about the growth opportunities in the industry. Among other things, his company tests whether radiopharmaceuticals are sterile and aims to become one of the leading contract laboratories for pharmaceuticals and medical technology in Germany. Freitag-Stechl is also involved in the young company Trimt GmbH in Radeberg, which is working on a substance to combat pancreatic cancer.

Meanwhile, the company Rotop uses slightly radioactive iodine on the site of the former nuclear research centre in Dresden-Rossendorf to diagnose Parkinson's disease. Although there is no longer a nuclear reactor in Rossendorf, there is a cyclotron, a particle accelerator. In it, elementary particles are channelled into a gas at breakneck speed to produce radioactive iodine. ABX also has a cyclotron and has ordered a second one – weighing 24 tonnes. This will probably not move into the new building.

Rotop Managing Director Jens Junker reported that the pharmaceutical companies in the region work well together – for example, Apogepha and Arevipharma, among others, are involved in a purchasing group outside of his company. The Dresden-based company Apogepha shut down its production in Dresden-Lockwitz a few years ago and now has its urology drugs produced by others. Managing Director Dirk Pamperin said that he obtains an antibiotic for urinary tract infections from China - five tonnes per year. He has not found a manufacturer in Europe.

Pamperin pointed out that more than half of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for Europe come from India and China. At present, India is still lowering prices, while German production is becoming more expensive due to rising energy prices. In order to build up more production capacity in Europe again, the CEO advised smaller pilot projects, "not 100 tonnes straight away".

Avencell found a major investor in the USA

The Dresden-based company's turnover is expected to grow from 57 to 132 million euros this year. Apogepha is now also distributing urology products from a Japanese company on the German market. The Dresden-based company also has a branch in Cologne that is responsible for over-the-counter medicines.

Biosaxony Managing Director André Hofmann said at the conference that there was a lack of laboratory technology in Dresden and Leipzig. However, three new construction projects are planned in Leipzig. The city also hosted the Bio-Europe trade fair this year. The industry association now wants to set up an "innovation system" in Saxony, organises workshops and will soon be working with partners to finance start-up companies in their early stages.

However, very large sums of money for the growth of established companies are not available in Saxony, the industry representatives noted in a panel discussion. Armin Ehninger, Managing Director of cancer specialist Avencell Europe with 80 employees in Dresden, said that he had found interested potential investors, but they proved to be risk-averse. Avencell finally approached US investors with a US partner and received a commitment of 250 million dollars from Blackstone Life Sciences a year ago.

Source: Sächsische Zeitung, Georg Moeritz, from 01 December 2022