* Outstanding trade visitor ratio at BIOTECHNICA 2008

The first BIOTECHNICA to be staged under the new annual cycle successfully passed its first test. "The strong exhibitor and visitor numbers at BIOTECHNICA 2008 significantly exceeded our expectations", stated Stephan Kühne, Member of the Deutsche Messe Managing Board, at the close of the tradeshow - Europe's biggest in the biotechnology sector. "The changeover to an annual cycle has proven the right decision. Our four-pronged concept, consisting of an exhibition, conferences, partnering opportunities and biotech awards competition, has borne fruit", Kühne said.

Around 11,000 visitors from 39 different nations traveled to Hannover to catch up on the exciting possibilities biotechnology has opened up in the areas of health, food production, the chemical industry and environmental protection. "These numbers were higher than anticipated, since we expected the shift to a new annual cycle for BIOTECHNICA to result in a comparatively smaller show initially", reported Kühne, continuing: "A growing majority of exhibitors and partner organizations have supported this move as the best way to create a central, annual European platform for innovation and knowledge transfer in the biotech sector, which is growing so rapidly across the globe".

535 exhibitors from 28 countries were on hand to present their latest products and developments, including international market leaders and top-name companies like Sartorius, Boehringer Ingelheim, GE Healthcare and Merck. A total of 8,395 m2 of display space was sold, and the new BioTech4U student program occupied another 2,000 m2 in Hall 8. The Convention Center was also fully booked with conferences.

"We are highly satisfied with these results", Kühne said. "We will keep working intensively with our partners from industry, the research community and government to continue to develop BIOTECHNICA's flagship character for the European biotech industry."

Around one-third of exhibitors were from abroad. The largest foreign contingents came from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States and Korea. In terms of German exhibitors, the highest numbers were from the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, followed by Hesse and Lower Saxony. Altogether, businesses hailed from four different continents at the event. Exhibitors said their main reason for coming to the fair was to generate new leads among potential customers and touch base with existing ones.

This year's BIOTECHNICA again featured a high caliber of trade visitor, including a strong international component. Foreign participation rose to 23 percent, meaning almost one in every four visitors came from abroad. The highest increases were from Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. This confirms BIOTECHNICA's success in reaching its essential core target markets in Europe. Higher visitor numbers were also recorded from Japan as well as from South and Central America.

Trade visitors accounted for an impressive 99 percent of all exhibition attendees again this year. 76 percent of all trade visitors reported playing a significant to authoritative role in their companies' purchasing and procurement decisions. The average length of stay at the tradeshow rose from 1.3 days last year to 1.5 days in 2008. Each trade visitor at BIOTECHNICA visited an average of 22 stands.

This year BIOTECHNICA again served as a showcase for innovations and technology transfer. According to a visitor survey, the most important reasons for coming to the fair were to find out about latest innovations (50 percent) and survey the general market (44 percent). In terms of exhibition segments, visitor attention was primarily focused on biotechnology (63 percent), equipment incl. laboratory equipment (59 percent) and pharmaceuticals/medicines (55 percent). There was also strong interest in biochemistry (27 percent), services (18 percent), food (14 percent) and the environment (14 percent).

Another highlight at BIOTECHNICA this year was the conference program - the largest and most varied in the event's history. A major additional attraction was the integration of "European BioPerspectives", a high-profile biotechnology congress. For the first time this year, the event was organized as a concurrent event with BIOTECHNICA by DECHEMA (the Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology) in cooperation with 21 specialist associations.

The new "Science to Market" forum, organized by the European Association of Pharma Biotechnology (EAPB), provided a separate networking hub for people involved in pharmaceutical biotechnology. The program of conferences, forums and workshops attracted over 2,800 participants in all.

More than 500 experts from all over the world were present to shed light on every aspect of current biotechnology, providing an outstanding communication platform for specialists from research, industry and government. The issues covered ranged from stem cell research, genetic engineering research and regenerative medicine to biotechnology trends and perspectives for the health care sector and the role of raw materials as an innovations driver for alternative energy production.

The BIOTECHNICA partnering concept also got off to a good start. The aim was to enable potential business partners from around the world to meet and forge new contacts. 246 participants from 28 nations took advantage of this new platform to build up their base of business leads. A total of more than 500 business meetings took place.

The impending shortage of qualified personnel in the life sciences sector made the BIOTECHNICA careers platform a particularly important part of this year's event. Exhibitors had played a major role in having this year's Human Resources issues extended to include support for companies seeking to find qualified new staff members. As a result, job-seekers visiting the event had an opportunity to speak face-to-face with HR managers from leading companies like Hexal, Novartis, Olympus Europa, Qiagen and Sandoz.

Among BIOTECHNICA's standout achievements this year, Kühne singled out activities designed to attract young talent to the sector: "The new BioTech4U program for high-school students proved to be right on the mark", he said. The program, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), was booked out in no time. Secondary school students from across Germany majoring in biology, chemistry and physics had an entire hall at their disposal to check out the many and varied options for a career in the biotechnology sector.

Once again this year, Deutsche Messe acknowledged the achievements of innovative European companies in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors with the EUROPEAN BIOTECHNICA AWARD, carrying a total prize purse of 100,000 euros. First place was awarded to the Regensburg company Geneart AG. Second place went to Tübingen-based immatics biotechnologies GmbH, and third place to the British biotech company Astex Therapeutics Limited from Cambridge.

Apart from expanding itself to become Europe's leading networking hub for the biotech industry, BIOTECHNICA is also setting its sights on the other major biotech regions of the world. From 17 to 19 March 2009 the BIOTECHNICA AMERICA event will be held in New York, followed by the third BIOTECH CHINA, staged once again in Shanghai, from 1 to 3 June 2009.

The next BIOTECHNICA in Hannover will run from Tuesday, 6 October to Thursday, 8 October 2009.

- Katharina Siebert-