Life Science Austria

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Life Science Austria  (LISA) is a priority program in the field of life sciences, which Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH has been implementing on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Economic Affairs since 2002. It sees itself as an interface and contact point for questions relating to industry-specific company and project funding and is a tool of Austrian technology policy and location promotion .

history

After Austria joined the EU in 1995, a fundamental repositioning of Austrian economic policy was one of the main concerns of the governments, especially the Schüssel government from 2000 onwards. Until the 1990s, Austria was characterized by the privatization of large state-owned companies in heavy industry and infrastructure. After many large companies in Austria suffered from the pressure of globalization in production and pushed research and development again , the traditionally strong sector of small and medium-sized companies , as well as the settlement of international companies, should be further promoted. It was worked out that a small country like Austria cannot survive in the international market in the long term in the classic production economy and an analysis of the potential showed that, in addition to tourism, technological innovation is an Austrian core competence. It was also established that the “ Austrian brand ” is associated internationally with terms such as naturalness and quality of life, which was also one of the wishes of the population.

In addition to high-tech innovation in key engineering technologies, for example in the automotive industry and in the communications sector, the life sciences such as medicine , agricultural technology and nutritional sciences and their expansion into modern branches such as biochemistry and molecular biology have been identified as suitable key technologies of the early 21st century. The LISA program aims to promote high technology in this sector. The accompanying measures also include the creation of the comprehensive “Ministry of Life” for agriculture and forestry, the environment and water management and the “ Ministry of Infrastructure” for transport, innovation and technology in the Federal Government Schüssel I in 2000 - these two ministries also exist to this day. The central methodology is, on the one hand, to further promote the already established centers such as classic university locations, and, on the other hand, to set new economic impulses through new settlements in structurally weak areas. Since location policy in Austria is a matter for the federal states , the LISA program of the federal government is primarily responsible for cross-state networking and international affairs. There has been a federal-state cooperation with Vienna since 2002 so that the biotechnology and medical device start-ups at Austria's most important life sciences location can be looked after together. The Vienna Business Agency and Austria Wirtschaftsservice each have a 50% share in the ARGE LISAvienna (Life Science Austria Vienna) .

This economic strategy was retained with the governments ( Gusenbauer , Faymann ). and for the presentation of Austria as a location in 2008, the International Location Marketing Life Science Austria  (LISA) was founded on behalf of the then Federal Ministry for Economy, Family and Youth (BMWFJ), which aims to intensify international cooperation and raise awareness of Austria as an international location.

The Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft provided more than 370 million euros between 2000 and 2009 and granted it as loans, guarantees and subsidies.

In 2017 there were more than 900 companies in the life sciences sector in Austria with almost 55,500 employees. Overall, the industry stands for added value of over € 22.4 billion, which is around 6.1% of Austria's economic output. The biotechnology and pharmaceuticals sector accounts for € 14 billion of this, and the medical devices sector for € 8.4 billion. In addition, more than 21,000 employees at 55 academic institutions in Austria work in research, teaching and administration in these fields.

goals and tasks

The aims of the initiative are to increase the number of life science companies in Austria through start-ups and settlement, their financing and support for founders and companies through various consulting services and training measures. LISA is also intended to serve as a marketing platform to secure and expand Austria as a life science location. Cooperation partners are in particular the relevant technology and start-up centers in the federal states. Together with the regions and in cooperation with the Austrian Business Agency and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce , LISA sees itself as a point of contact in matters of cooperation, settlement and funding of projects and companies.

To achieve these goals, LISA organizes the business plan competition Best of Biotech - BOB, finances promising, pre-competitive research projects LISA- PreSeed and advises companies and start-ups in the areas of business models , structuring , business plan creation , financing , funding and patents . The offer also includes training and further education for founders and companies as well as students in the life science fields of study. The financing of start- ups with LISA seed financing and project financing (double equity, erp loans, guarantee instruments) in later corporate development are the most important funding instruments for life science companies in the start-up and growth phase.

Important locations of the life sciences in Austria

Only a selection is given with a focus on research institutions that can be seen as important drivers for the industry. The Life Science Report Austria 2018 and the Austrian Life Sciences Directory offer more detailed insights. The latter can be searched online for the academic institutions and companies that are active in Austria in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, digital health, bioeconomy and related research areas.

Vienna:

Lower Austria:

Upper Austria:

Styria:

Tyrol:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c BMWFJ: The Austrian model for foreign trade. Shaping globalization , Vienna, November 2009 ( pdf , bmwfw.gv.at).
  2. ^ A b Karl Aiginger: Challenges for Austria's foreign trade in the next decade. In: BMWFJ: Foreign trade model. , 2009, especially 3.1 From technology taker to technology provider , p. 17 (pdf p. 31).
  3. ^ A b Sylvia Kritzinger, Barbara Prainsack, Helga Pülzl: System or Network? Changes in Research Policy Strategies in Austria . In: Austrian Journal for Political Science (ÖZP) 2006/1 Forschungspolitik und Innovation / Research Politics and Innovation , Vienna, 2006, Chapter 4.
  4. ↑ Life Science Austria Vienna: LISAvienna's Newsletter 02/2012: Celebrating ten years of LISAvienna - the Vienna Life Science Cluster. Retrieved August 19, 2019 .
  5. ↑ [1] , press release from November 18, 2009
  6. ↑ Life Science Report Austria 2018 (pp. 7, 11, 27). Retrieved on August 19, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Life Science Austria , Austria Wirtschaftsservice, awsg.at → High Technology → Funding
  8. ↑ press release