An April survey of member companies of the German Association of Biotechnology Industries has revealed that the industry expects a small rise in revenues in the second half of 2015. Of the responding companies, 84% predicted improved business. More than 80% of respondents experienced increased sales since the beginning of this year, and 16% reported no change. The firms reported higher growth abroad than domestically. About 68% of companies plan to in-crease their R&D activities this year, while 23% plan no change. For 2015 overall, companies expect a slight increase in R&D spending. They also forecast a slight increase in investment. More than 60% of firms plan to invest in more or larger projects, while 4% plan to lower their investments. In 2014, revenues for “core” biotech companies (whose activities are dedicated to biotech products and services), which account for only a portion of German biotech sales, were €3,031 mil-lion ($3,499 million), up 5.8%. These companies spent €954 million for research, an increase of 6.1%. They received €172 million in venture capital and €44 million in public funding, up 25.5% and down 10.2%, respectively.

Source: German Association of Biotechnology Industries