The ‘NEU²' Consortium Receives A Further Euro 20M Boost From The German Government To Expand Its Project Portfolio And Move Forward Its Public-Private Fund Focused On Therapies For Multiple Sclerosis And Related Neurological Diseases

In the latest round of the “BioPharma” competition funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the NEU² consortium has been granted a further Eur 20 M. This brings the total public investment in NEU² to Eur 40 M since 2009. In the NEU² model, public funding is combined with private contributions to create an overall budget of at least Euro 80 M. This financial strength will drive forward a portfolio of innovative therapeutic and diagnostic projects in multiple sclerosis and neurodegenerative disease across discovery and development stages.

Launched in 2009, the aim of BioPharma is to create novel organizational models for drug discovery and development in order to help re-invigorate the German Pharmaceutical industry. In 2012, following 2.5 years of operation, NEU² together with other BioPharma consortia,  were re-evaluated by the BMBF and independent international experts with productivity, operational excellence and sustainability as decisive criteria. The latest award to NEU² from the BMBF follows on from this re-evaluation process.

Dr. Timm-H. Jessen, the spokesperson of the NEU² consortium and CEO of Bionamics GmbH, a project management company coordinating the consortium: “We are very pleased with the positive decision of the BMBF to extend funding of NEU² to 2017, this clearly validates our approach. With the additional funding we will be able to broaden our business strategy and to position ourselves sustainably over the next 5 years. Such a vote of confidence also enhances the attractiveness of NEU² for investors and industrial organizations seeking to partner individual projects or across the therapeutic portfolio. NEU² is further engaging with the private sector to build up a combined fund of up to Euro 100M which will be brought to bear in tackling these life-threatening diseases”. 

About The BioPharma Initiative of the BMBF
In recent years, scientific progress has helped to identify novel approaches to a number of diseases, to enable treatment with fewer side-effects or even to cure diseases. Many of those research results have been generated in Germany. But in many cases, new medicines based on such innovation are generated in other countries. In the last 20 years Germany has lost its leading ranks in the international biotech and pharma industry. Therefore, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the Pharmaceuticals Initiative for Germany including its key element the “BioPharma Competition”. Up to EUR 100 Mio of public funds are provided over 10 years to support new structures and stimuli to Germany´s biotech and pharma industry. The NEU² consortium is one of the 3 winners of the original BioPharma Initiative.

About NEU²
The NEU² consortium, including, amongst others, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Biotest AG, Merck KGaA, Evotec AG, European ScreeningPort GmbH, and Bionamics GmbH was successful in the nationwide “BioPharma” strategy competition of The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung – BMBF). This initiative aims to promote innovative partnerships between academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in order to strengthen the pharmaceutical value chain in Germany and beyond. The NEU² consortium focuses on the development of novel therapies against neurological diseases with a specific focus on multiple sclerosis. The NEU² consortium is coordinated by Bionamics GmbH, an independent project management company and founder of NEU².