Since 2000, the company's staff has tripled in size and continued to expand. Realizing amaxa needed more space in order to develop and commercialize gene transfer technologies, it chose to locate in Cologne's Rechtsrheinische Technologiezentrum (RTZ).

Yet, with the staff quickly mounting to 115, these premises were fast becoming too small. Consequently, amaxa GmbH moved its headquarters to the BioCampus Cologne, a biotechnology cluster in Cologne-Bocklemuend, that offered more than 2.5 times the space the company had before.

"Our aim was to stay in Cologne because it offers very good basic conditions for biotechnology," said Rainer Christine, CEO and co-founder of amaxa. "The BioCampus Cologne is an outstanding solution for our new headquarters because of the proximity to the BioCenter Cologne, Cologne's other first-class biotech cluster."

Without a doubt, Germany has always excelled in what one may tag "intellectually based" industries. While this nation has faced economic hardships recently, strength still lies in this grouping, with universities and research institutes being at its core.

Biotech Intelligence

Biotechnology is an important intellectual industry to Germany. Cologne and its state of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) has attracted its share, including Memorec Stoffel GmbH, Direvo Biotech AG and Operon GmbH, which have settled in the BioCampus Cologne. Other biotech clusters in Cologne are the BioCenter Cologne in Braunsfeld; the Cell Center Cologne in Lindenthal; RTZ, with the planned Hagen-Campus in Kalk; and the PharmaZentrum Cologne in Muelheim.

Fueling the industry is NRW's dense concentration of institutes for higher education. NRW boasts 53 universities and universities of applied science with 31,000 scientists and about 500,000 students. In addition, NRW is home to 11 Max-Planck-Institutes in NRW, three of which are in Cologne. The Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding at Cologne is one of three gene research centers in Germany.

Frankfurt/Main is fostering biotechnology through Infraserv Hîchst, a leading European biotech service provider that has developed the Industrial Park Frankfurt-Hîchst. About 75 companies that have located there are investing almost 400 million Euro in the park this year.

The 150-acre integrated R&D and production site offers infrastructure, utilities, maintenance and services, including a rail spur that connects to the German rail network. Direct motorway connections offer easy access to a container port authorized to store hazardous materials. Frankfurt's airport is also nearby. Infraserv can also provide personnel qualified for bioprocesses and trained to customer specific proprietary needs.

Bavaria, Baden Wurttemberg and Berlin rank as home to some of Germany's prime biotechnology clusters. Merix Bioscience Inc., of Durham, N.C., recently announced it is locating its first European operation in Erlangen, Bavaria. Merix Germany GmbH will cooperate closely with the Dermatological Clinic of the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg to build a location for the production of pharmaceutical products. In the future, a cancer vaccine based on dendritic cells will be produced and optimized there.

Contributing to the industry are outstanding research institutes such as the Max-Planck-Institutes; the GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health; the Gene Center; the University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan; state institutes (Bayerische Landesanstalten fÅr Bodenkultur und Pflanzenbau, Wald-und Forstwirtschaft and Fraunhofer-Institut fÅr Verfahrenstechnik und Verpackung). Regensburg offers the center for applied biomedicine (Tumor Center, Center for Clinical Research, and two WHO collaborating centers); fluorescent bioanalytics; and archaebacteria biotechnology. Franconia is Germany's biomedical engineering capital.

No other European region focuses on research more than Baden-Wurttemberg. The region has designated 3.7 percent of its budget to research in science, more than Japan or the United States. Biotechnology has benefited. No other German state operates as many gene-technology systems as Baden-Wurttemberg - 852 at the end of 2000. Currently, 400 biotech companies are headquartered in the region.

Nano Intelligence

Nanotechnology, which has implications for every industry, is still in its infancy. Yet, industrial uses are quickly emerging. For example, a new method of building complex nanoscale structures has been demonstrated at the University of Bonn. This technique could be used to construct ultra-small photonic crystals, and could pave the way for all-optical circuits.

Automotive Intelligence

Cologne excels in high-tech advancements in the automotive industry. Toyota located its Formula 1-Center in Cologne. Ford's John Andrews Development Center of Ford, one of the three Ford R&D centers worldwide, concentrates about 3,600 qualified staff at Cologne. The city is also a center for engineering services from Bertrandt to Visteon and Yazaki.

A host of new automotive technologies are coming from Bavaria. Semiconductor applications introduced by Munich-based Infineon Technology AG offer huge potential to the auto industry. Infineon's work won Germany's "Prize for Innovations" this year.

Bavarian automotive region Hochfranken is developing into a center of applied automotive technologies such as intelligent engines and chassis. The Center of Applied Automotive Technologies is being developed to be the latest addition to the region's R&D institutions.

Karen Thuermer is a freelance business writer based in Washington, D.C.