Hamburg to boost medical innovations

"The corona crisis has made the importance of science and research for society as a whole abundantly clear and has highlighted the potential for clinical research and development," said Fegebank. Hamburg is promoting the fields of virology and infection research to which networking between science and industry is crucial. "In addition to our universities and research institutions, research-based companies such as Medsan Biotech are important drivers of Hamburg's innovative capacity," she noted.

Medsan, a family-owned company, recently introduced a new PCR device that evaluates samples faster than ever. The company specialises in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and food supplements. "We see the future of diagnostics and active pharmaceutical ingredients here at Medsan Biotech," Westhagemann said. "Since the coronavirus crisis and the rapid development of mRNA-based vaccines, we have seen what is possible with this technology. We in Hamburg are supporting new developments in the biotech sector as part of RIS and our Life Science Cluster."

The senate presented RIS to drive the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for key parts of society and forward-looking sectors in May 2020. Emphasis is on health, climate and energy, mobility, data science and digitalisation as well as material sciences and new materials. During the summer, Fegebank and Westhagemann visited the University of Hamburg, the chip provider NXP Semiconductors, the Technical University of Hamburg, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Science City Hamburg-Bahrenfeld and the Bergedorf Energy Campus as part of the RIS tour.

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