Boehringer Ingelheim Supports BioLabs First European Location BioLabs Heidelberg with Founding Sponsorship 

Ingelheim, Germany and Heidelberg, Germany, 17.08.2020 - Boehringer Ingelheim signs strategic sponsorship agreement with Biolabs Global to support the launch of BioLabs first European Location in Heidelberg. The agreement runs over three years with a potential extension for two additional years. BioRN, the leading non-profit membership network supporting the Life Science Cluster in the Rhine-Neckar region has been working with Biolabs over the past year to adapt the US start-up incubator model to the German research and biotech environment. The BioLabs Heidelberg site is expected to open for innovative life science start-up companies in 2021.
 

BioLabs Global is the premier life-sciences and biotech co-working company founded in 2010 and operates laboratories in key life science clusters, making it the most successful life-science incubator operator in the US. Boehringer Ingelheim embraces the power of partnership and diversity of minds across the life-science community to create more breakthrough therapies that change patients’ lives. The new sponsorship is part of Boehringer Ingelheim’s unique “Grass Roots” program aiming at connecting the company with entrepreneurs and facilitating information sharing and open dialog.

As an integral part of the sponsorship, Boehringer Ingelheim provides expertise and offers guidance to start-up companies at the Heidelberg site. Boehringer Ingelheim will also be offering ‘Golden Tickets” to the companies once per year during the term of the sponsorship. In partnership with BioLabs, Boehringer Ingelheim has already awarded numerous entrepreneurs with one year of free lab space through the BioLabs’ ‘Golden Ticket’ program.  
 

Ioannis Sapountzis, Ph.D., Global Head of Business Development and Licensing at Boehringer Ingelheim said, “We are delighted to support BioLabs’ expansion into Europe and are looking forward to supporting the young innovative life science companies moving into BioLabs’ startup incubator. We have an excellent long-term relationship with BioLabs and BioRN and highly value their initiatives and programs which reflect and enable our commitment to foster emerging science to bring more medical breakthroughs to patients.”

“We are thrilled to have Boehringer Ingelheim as a sponsor of the site, their decision to support this project demonstrates the strong commitment to the outstanding scientists and entrepreneurs in the region. Their partnership with BioLabs will provide a significant boost to the biotech start-up ecosystem in the Rhine-Main-Neckar area.” said Julia Schaft, managing director at BioRN. 
 

Johannes Fruehauf, founder of BioLabs said, “We are excited to partner again with Boehringer Ingelheim, building on years of successful partnership in the US, to expand our program to Europe. Boehringer Ingelheim has proven to be an excellent partner and mentor to many of our startups, and has already partnered with several companies out of our network. Together, we will build a strong center of entrepreneurship and medical innovation in Heidelberg to complement and build upon the excellent academic environment already present.”

 
About Boehringer Ingelheim
Improving the health of humans and animals is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.
Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas, human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 17.5 billion euros. R&D expenditure of almost 3.2 billion euros corresponded to 18.1 per cent of net sales.
As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards mankind and the environment.
More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report: http://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.

About BioRN
BioRN is the science and industry cluster of the Rhine-Main-Neckar region around Heidelberg, one of Germany’s strongest biotech hubs. It is a non-profit network fostering health innovations and serving its members by creating a rich translational ecosystem as well as promoting, representing and connecting the regional innovation stakeholders. Our vision is to develop the region into a world-leading life science cluster attracting international investments and top global talent.
BioRN has more than 100 institutional members, including the top academic and research institutions, 8 global pharmaceutical companies, a large range of small and medium-sized enterprises bolstering the life science ecosystem as well as local government organizations and interest groups. www.biorn.org 

About BioLabs 
BioLabs is a membership-based network of shared laboratory facilities located in key geographies with proven biotech innovation clusters. BioLabs offers beautifully designed coworking environments that pair fully equipped and supported lab, office, and event spaces with relevant programming and unparalleled access to capital and industry partners. These fertile, supportive ecosystems allow young companies to shift their focus from startup operations to experimentation and innovation so they can reach their scientific potential quickly and achieve business success. Companies can start with a single lab bench and scale-up as they grow. The expanding BioLabs and Affiliates US network of labs now comprises sites in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts; Durham, North Carolina; San Carlos, San Diego and San Francisco, California; New York City, and Princeton, New Jersey; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and is developing additional domestic and international sites. www.biolabs.io 

Boehringer Ingelheim:
Dr. Reinhard Malin
Head of Communications Innovation Unit
P: 49 6132 77-90815
reinhard.malin@boehringer-ingelheim.com 

Linda Ruckel 
Associate Director, Media and Corporate Reputation
Boehringer Ingelheim U.S.
P: 203-791-6672 
linda.ruckel@boehringer-ingelheim.com 

BioRN:
Dr. Annalisa Zuccotti
BioRN Cluster Management GmbH
Communication & Events Lead
az@biorn.org 
www.biorg.org