Germany’s Medical Biotechnology Sector is Flourishing

Germany is the European Union’s (EU) largest pharmaceutical market by revenue and has the highest medical biotechnology research and development (R&D) spend in Europe.¹ It is one of the industry’s most important and commercially attractive markets to launch.² Unlike most of Europe, Germany covers new medicines immediately upon regulatory approval, with manufacturers free to set the launch price before formal negotiation under the German Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) framework. German drug prices are widely referenced worldwide.

Germany’s Medical Biotechnology Sector Is Flourishing

Germany is home to some of Europe’s largest pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, BioNTech, and Merck. Several large pharmaceutical companies have made strategic investments in German biotech firms, including Amgen's licensing deal with DISCO Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim’s collaborations with BioNTech, EMFRET Analytics, and Prime Vector Technologies; Lilly’s licensing of Seamless Therapeutics’ gene-editing technology; and Evotec’s partnership with Plectonic Biotech on T-cell-engaging immunotherapy (Table 1). In addition, a few high-profile acquisitions have been announced in recent months, including US-based Gilead Sciences’ US$5 billion (€4.48 billion) acquisition of Tubulis and Japan-based Asahi Kasei's €780 million (US$870 million) acquisition of Aicuris Anti-infective Cures AG.^3-4

What Are Some of Germany’s Biotechs to Watch Out For?

According to Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), there are more than 1000 biotech companies clustered in BioRegions throughout Germany which generated €11 billion (US$12.4 billion) in revenues in 2024.⁵ The Berlin-Brandenburg area is known for its start-up and research institutions; the Bavaria–Greater Munich Region is recognized for its advancements in gene therapy, radiopharmaceuticals and personalized medicine; and the Rhine-Neckar Region is home to several pharma companies (eg, AbbVie, BioNTech, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merck) and the life science incubator, BioLabs Heidelberg.

Germany has an active biotech sector that attracts billions in investment each year.⁵ During the past 12 months, Revier Therapeutics and Smartbax completed seed funding rounds; Kupando, mbiomics GmbH, and Tacalyx completed Series A financing rounds; and Exciva GmbH raised €51 million (US$57 million) in a Series B financing round (Table 2).

The following are some German biotech companies to keep an eye on (Table 3).

Abalos Therapeutics was founded in 2019 and utilizes an arenavirus to develop novel anti-cancer therapeutics. In October 2025, it began dosing ABX-001, the company’s lead non-lytic viroimmunotherapy candidate, in a phase 1 study of patients with advanced solid tumors refractory to standard of care.⁶ In March 2024, it received €1.2 million (US$1.35 million) in funding from KMU-innovativ, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).⁷ In 2021, it raised €34 million (US$38 million) in a Series A funding round led by Coparion, Seventure Partners, and Ventura BioMed Investors.⁸

Allogenetics GmbH was founded in 2001 by Constanca Figueiredo, Rainer Blasczyk, and Philipp Langrehr. It uses ex vivo gene therapy to reduce the immunogenicity of organ transplantation by selectively switching off Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) antigens that stimulate T-cell and antibody responses against non-self-tissue. The company has 3 candidates in preclinical evaluation targeting the lung, kidney, and heart, and another in discovery for liver transplantation. In May 2026, IDEA Pharma was recognized as one of the 2026 Global Disruptive Pioneers. In September 2026, the company raised €3.8 million (US$4.3 million) in a Pre-Series A financing round led by NBank Capital, Carma Fund, Life Science Valley Wachstumsfonds, and other investors to advance its lead program ALG-115 through preclinical and first-in-human trials in lung transplantation.⁹

DISCO Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2022 by Johato Heuckmann and Roman Thomas and focuses on combining cell-surface proteomics and protein mapping to generate surfaceome-directed therapies, including bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers (TCEs). Its pipeline targets small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer (MSS-CRC). In January 2026, DISCO signed a US$618 million licensing agreement with Amgen for novel cancer surfaceome-targeted therapies.¹⁰ In December 2025, DISCO completed a €36 million (US$40.7 million) debt financing round led by Ackermans & van Haaren and NRW. Bank, with participation from existing investors, Sofinnova Partners, AbbVie Ventures, M Ventures, and Panakes Partners.¹¹

Kupando, a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2018, is developing immunostimulatory agents that target toll-like receptors (TLRs) to help prevent infectious diseases and address cancer. In March 2026, it raised an additional €10 million (US$11.3 million) in Series A financing, led by MIG Fonds and Bayern Kapital. This brings its total Series A funding to €23 million (US$25.9 million), which will support development of its product portfolio.¹² In August 2026, Kupando began dosing patients in a phase 1 trial of KUP101, a differentiated dual TLR 4/7 agonist targeting hard-to-treat solid tumors.¹³

mbiomics GmbH was founded in 2020 by Heinrich Grabmayr and Johannes B. Woehrstein to develop complex microbiome-based therapeutics for severe and chronic diseases. The company has developed 2 proprietary genomic-based platforms: GOLD for microbiome analysis and STRATOS for microbiome profiling. In May 2026, it closed its Series A financing, raising an additional €12 million (US$13.5 million) in a round led by Bayern Kapital and MIG Fonds. This brings the total round size to €30 million (US$33.8 million). Its lead candidate, MBX-116, is an immune checkpoint inhibitor co-therapy to treat advanced melanoma. The company aims to initiate a phase 1B study in 2027.¹⁴

Plectonic Biotech GmbH was founded in 2022 to develop programmable DNA-protein therapeutics using its LOGIBODY technology (LOGIc-gated AntiBODY), which turns the immune system against cancer. The company has developed a product pipeline including multispecific T-cell-engaging biopharmaceuticals. It has received funding from SPRIN-D to fund this research.¹⁵ In May 2026, Plectonic Biotech entered into a collaboration with Evotec SE on next-generation immunotherapies to develop novel RNA-protein immunotherapies targeting solid tumors by combining it with Evotec’s BiTco platform.¹⁶

Revier Therapeutics was founded in 2023 as a Heidelberg University spinout; it develops orally available small molecules that selectively inhibit class IIa histone deacetylases (HDACs). The approach targets disease-driving activity while preserving essential enzyme functions and avoiding the broader toxicity of earlier HDAC inhibitors. Revier focuses on cardiometabolic diseases, including atherosclerosis and heart failure. In August 2026, it raised a €7 million (US$7.8 million) seed round led by KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), VORNvc, and private investors through Revier Invest Heidelberg. The funding will support preclinical development, team expansion, and clinical trial preparation.¹⁷

Smartbax GmbH was founded in 2021 to develop next-generation small-molecule antibiotics targeting dysregulated hydrolases, including peptidase SpsB, which are integral to the bacterial cell wall. Prof. Stephan Sieber developed the technology at the Technical University of Munich. The company has established a multimodal development platform, with 3 independent projects in the pipeline. In January 2026, the company licensed a new compound class from Aicuris Anti-infective Cures AG's antibacterial portfolio to expand its proprietary pipeline of small-molecule antibiotics.18 In May 2023, the company raised €1.2 million (US$1.35 million) in seed funding from Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).¹⁹ In October 2025, the company raised an additional €4.5 million (US$5.1 million) in a pre-Series A financing round to advance its lead candidate through preclinical development.²⁰

Seamless Therapeutics was founded in 2022 and focuses on using gene editing to target rare and severe diseases. Seamless’ proprietary programmable recombinase platform enables large, precise DNA insertions into any target gene sequence, independent of the cell’s natural DNA repair pathway. The company is developing a pipeline of disease-modifying product candidates across a broad spectrum of indications to expand its therapeutic areas. In January 2026, it established a US$1.12 billion (€1 billion) collaboration with Lilly to correct gene mutations associated with hearing loss.21In 2023, the company raised US$12.5 million (€11 million) in seed investment from BMBF, Forbion, and Wellington Partner Venture Capital.²²

Tacalyx is a privately held biotech company developing antibodies to treat cancer by targeting tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs). These distinctive glycan structures are uniquely expressed or overexpressed on tumor cells and often play critical roles in tumor progression, including cell adhesion, immune evasion, and metastasis. The company was founded in 2019 as a spin-out of the Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPICI) in Potsdam, Germany. Tacalyx’s proprietary platform uses TACAs to develop antibody-based therapies, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and build a differentiated pipeline. In April 2026, the company raised €11 million (US$12.4 million) in seed financing to fund the development of TCX-201, targeting multiple solid tumors.²³

T-CURX is a privately owned German biotech spun out of the University of Würzburg laboratory by co-founder Prof. Michael Hudecek in 2017. It is developing next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies based on virus-free Sleeping Beauty transposon gene transfer to engineer patients’ T cells. In December 2025, it secured a US$20 million (€17.83 million) Series financing round led by BiomedVC and included Bayern Kapital, HighLight Capital (HLC), and i&iBio Fund.²⁴ In June 2026, the company acquired Pantherna Therapeutics to gain access to the PTXmRNA and PTXDLNP platforms and accelerate development of its product pipeline.²⁵

Veraxa Biotech AG was founded in 2026 from the merger between Veraxa and Veraxa Biotech Holding AG and Voyager Acquisition Corporation. It focuses on next-generation cancer therapies of novel bispecific TCEs and ADCs. In August 2026, Veraxa Biotech and Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH released a proof-of-concept study with next-generation antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) for the treatment of autoimmune and chronic immune diseases.²⁶ In July 2026, the company advanced its bispecific ADC, VXA-222, through its joint discovery collaboration with OmniAbs, initiated in May 2025.²⁷ The company has financings comprising a US$27.5 million (€24.5 million) senior secured note and up to US$50 million (€44.58 million) under a securities purchase agreement to fund its product pipeline.²⁸

Future Opportunities for Investment in Germany’s Biotechs Industry

In 2025, Germany was one of the EU’s largest exporters of medicinal and pharmaceutical products outside the EU, at roughly €67.9 billion (US$ 76.5 billion).²⁹ It is also a major purchaser of medicines and has a trade surplus with the US and the world in pharmaceutical goods. However, this is a challenging time for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

The German government is trying to contain costs and is legislating to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure and lower drug prices. The ‘Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Stabilisation Law’ (GKV-BStabG) aims to secure nearly €20 billion (US$22.5 billion) in savings for the German healthcare system in 2027, rising to €42 billion (US$47.3 billion) by 2030. Pharma companies are expected to contribute €1.9 billion (US$2.1 billion) in savings in 2027 alone.³⁰

Meanwhile, the United States has implemented Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) drug pricing and levied a 15% tariff on EU exports, increasing pressure on key markets, including Germany, to raise drug prices.³¹ To counter this, French and German health ministers issued a joint declaration earlier this year, pledging to strengthen the European pharmaceutical industry, counter MFN and competition with China.³²

Germany's biotech industry has matured. It is recognized for its scientific excellence, robust research data, and industrial expertise. The key question moving forward is whether the industry can remain strategically focused and attract additional finance to convert its innovative product pipeline into commercially viable assets.³³

Investors continue to watch this space to see whether Germany can maintain its competitive edge and ensure political and regulatory conditions continue to support scientific research, innovation, and long-term growth.³⁴

References

1. GTAI. The medical biotechnology industry in Germany. GTAI. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.gtai.de/en/invest/industries/healthcare-market-germany/medical-biotechnology
2. OHE. Germany’s drug-pricing dilemma: why Europe’s pivotal market holds the key to the MFN debate. OHE. June 25, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.ohe.org/insights/germanys-drug-pricing-dilemma-why-europes-pivotal-market-holds-the-key-to-the-mfn-debate/
3. Gilead to acquire tubulis, adding a potentially best-in-class antibody-drug conjugate and next-generation platform to further strengthen oncology pipeline. News release. Gilead Sciences. April 7, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.gilead.com/news/news-details/2026/gilead-to-acquire-tubulis-adding-potentially-best-in-class-antibody-drug-conjugate-and-next-generation-platform-to-further-strengthen-oncology-pipeline
4. Asahi Kasei strengthens global pharmaceutical platform with the acquisition of aicuris – advancing expansion in severe infectious disease and leveraging existing global infrastructure to drive long-term growth. News release. Asahi Kasei, February 26, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://asahi-kasei.eu/asahi-kasei-acquires-german-aicuris/
5. GTAI. Biotechnology clusters in Germany. 2026/2027. February 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.gtai.de/resource/blob/1981862/fa5a9d514130aba9c2c2d2753c670092/factsheet-biotechnology-cluster-germany-2026
6. Abalos Therapeutics doses first patient in phase 1 study evaluating ABX-001 for the treatment of solid tumors. News release. Abalos Therapeutics. October 23, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://abalos-tx.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/20251023_Abalos_PR_FPI_ABX-001_Final.pdf
7. Abalos selected for funding project by KMU-innovativ, an initiative from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). News release. Abalos Therapeutics. March 18, 2024. Accessed October 10, 2026.https://abalos-tx.com/investors-partners/#kmu
8. Abalos Therapeutics completes series A extension bringing total raised to EUR 43 million. News release. Abalos Therapeutics. October 1, 2021. Accessed October 10, 2026.https://abalos-tx.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/20211014_Abalos-Series-A-Extension_ENG_Final.pdf
9. Allogenetics raises €3.8M pre-series A financing round. News release. Allogenetics. September 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7503377380015771648/
10. DISCO Pharmaceuticals enters license agreement to advance novel cancer surfaceome targeted therapies. News release. DISCO Pharmaceuticals. January 7, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.https://discopharma.de/disco-pharmaceuticals-enters-license-agreement-to-advance-novel-cancer-surfaceometargeted-therapies/
11. DISCO Pharmaceuticals appoints Mark Manfredi as CEO and announces final close of €36 million seed financing. News release. DISCO Pharmaceuticals. December 11, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://discopharma.de/disco-pharmaceuticals-appoints-mark-manfredi-as-ceo-and-announces-final-close-of-e36-million-seed-financing/
12. Kupando secures additional €10 million. News release. Kupando. March 18, 2026.Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.kupando.com/kupando-secures-additional-e10-million/
13. Kupando announces first patient dosed in phase 1 clinical study of lead candidate KUP101 in advanced solid tumours. News release. Kupando. August 6, 2026.Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.kupando.com/kupando-announces-first-patient-dosed-in-phase-1-clinical-study-of-lead-candidate-kup101-in-advanced-solid-tumors/
14. mbiomics announces third closing of series A, reaching €30 million to advance microbiome therapeutics. News release. Mbiomics GmbH, April 28, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.mbiomics.com/260428-pr-third-closing-series-a
15. Plectonic Biotech. Pipeline. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://plectonic.com/pipeline/
16. Evotec and Plectonic enter research collaboration to explore new generation of T-cell-engaging approaches for solid tumors. News release. PRNewswire. September 2, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/evotec-and-plectonic-enter-research-collaboration-to-explore-new-generation-of-t-cell-engaging-approaches-for-solid-tumors-302867327.html
17. Revier Therapeutics launches with €6 million seed financing to pioneer class IIa HDAC inhibitors for cardiometabolic disease. News release. Revier Therapeutics. August 25, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://revier.bio/revier-therapeutics-launches-6-million-seed-financing/
18. Smartbax in-licenses lead antibacterial compound targeting gram-negative infections from aicuris. News release. Smartbax. January 20, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.smartbax.de/news-in-licensing-from-aicuris
19. Smartbax raises €1.9 million in seed financing. News release. Smartbax. May 23, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.smartbax.de/news-seed-financing
20. Smartbax announces a €4.7 m pre-series A round to advance novel antibiotic compound through preclinical stage. News release. Smartbax. October 22, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.smartbax.de/news-closes-pre-series-a-round
21. Seamless Therapeutics announces global research collaboration with Lilly to develop programmable recombinase-based therapeutics for hearing loss. News release. January 28, 2026. Seamless Therapeutics. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://seamlesstx.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260128_Final-Deal-PR-Lilly_Final_Website.pdf
22. Seamless Therapeutics launches with $12.5M seed financing to advance transformative gene editing platform based on programmable precision designer recombinases. News release. Seamless Therapeutics. March 16, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://seamlesstx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230316_Seamless_Seed-Financing_Final.pdf
23. Tacalyx secures €11 million to advance lead TACA-targeting ADC programme toward the clinic. News releases. Tacalyx. April 29, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1eYnp4rfxrl9yuBIpFCehlJbOf0ujCzqW
24. T-CURX announces $20M series A financing led by BiomedVC. News release. T-CRUX. December 17, 2025.Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.t-curx.com/news/2025/t-curx-announces-20m-series-a-financing-led-by-biomedvc
25. T-CURX acquires Pantherna Therapeutics to accelerate clinical translation of its non-viral in vivo CAR-T strategies. News release. T-CRUX. June 1, 2025.Accessed October 10, 2026. https://t-curx.com/news/2026/t-curx-acquires-pantherna-therapeutics-to-accelerate-clinical-translation-of-its-non-viral-in-vivo-car-t-strategies
26. Veraxa Biotech and Secarna Pharmaceuticals achieve research milestone in antibody oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) alliance. News release. Veraxa Biotech. August 24, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://investors.veraxa.com/news-releases/news-release-details/veraxa-biotech-and-secarna-pharmaceuticals-achieve-research
27. Veraxa Biotech announces advancement of novel bispecific antibody drug conjugate program VXA-222 from joint discovery collaboration with OmniAb. News release. Veraxa Biotech. July 27, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://investors.veraxa.com/news-releases/news-release-details/veraxa-biotech-announces-advancement-novel-bispecific-antibody
28. Veraxa Biotech to debut as a publicly traded company pioneering next-generation cancer therapies on June 11, 2026. News release. Veraxa Biotech. June 10, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://investors.veraxa.com/news-releases/news-release-details/veraxa-biotech-debut-publicly-traded-company-pioneering-next
29. Eurostat. Medicinal & pharma products: €221 billion trade surplus. News articles. Eurostat. April 13, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20260413-1
30. Statista. Pharmaceutical market revenue in Europe by country. Statista. February 3, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.statista.com/statistics/458845/european-pharmaceutical-markets-turnover/
31. EC. Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adjustment of customs duties on the import of certain goods originating in the United States of America and opening of tariff quotas for imports of certain goods originating in the United States of America. August 25, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026. Eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?qid=1756444403195&uri=COM%3A2025%3A471%3AFIN
32. WorldNews. Germany and France sign joint declaration on strengthening the pharmaceutical industry in Europe (Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany). WorldNews. May 20, 2026.Accessed October 10, 2026. https://article.wn.com/view/2026/05/20/Germany_and_France_Sign_Joint_Declaration_on_Strengthening_t/
33. EY Germany. German biotechnology report 2026. Press release. EY Germany. June 15, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://www.ey.com/de_de/insights/strategy-transactions/german-biotechnology-report-2026
34. Burton. New reform causing pharma to rethink Germany investments. Pharma Boardroom. May 26, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026. https://pharmaboardroom.com/articles/gkv-reform-why-pharma-is-rethinking-investing-in-germany/

About the Author

Cheryl Barton, PhD, is the founder and director of PharmaVision, Pharmavision.co.uk.