The global COVID-19 pandemic is currently clouding global affairs. Around 191 vaccine projects were started within a very short time, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Germany is one of the countries with an especially large number of schemes, about 20 in total. This already shows Germany's position in the global market in life sciences. Germany is well-established for its leading life science firms, such as Bayer and Merck, but other German life scientific firms, such as BioNTech and CureVec, have a potential for establishment on the world market. In addition, a new and continuously rising generation of startups in the field of life sciences has emerged in Germany, representing 8.5% of all German startups founded in 2019. The field of life sciences is thus the third fastest growing sector in the German start-up scene. The global market for life sciences products is projected to be worth more than US$2.5 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow to around US$4.2 billion by 2024. Germany, after the United States, Japan and France, is the fourth largest pharmaceutical market worldwide. One in six jobs in Germany is connected with the healthcare sector generating a USD 775 billion economic footprint, which is projected to account for 12% of Germany's GDP in 2020. In 2025, digital health items alone will account for 8 percent of the total healthcare expenditure of Germany at EUR 38 billion. Germany proves to be an early adapter with nearly half of the population using mobile devices for personal health purposes, thereby helping the health-tech industry expand. As a result, Germany undeniably has one of the front seats in the life sciences field. Apartments
Germany is also leading the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and laboratory and testing capacities are highly demanded at national level. More than before the pandemic, demand is being pursued for suitable space for medication, diagnostic tests, medical devices and biotechnology applications. While Germany is one of the global leader in life sciences and at the same time extremely creative, the German immobilization industry has so far reached the constantly evolving need for propsci space.
Surplus demand in Germany for Propsci
Despite the steadily growing demand for staff and space in the life sciences sector in recent years, the German market has failed to recognise propsci as an asset class. The small availability of laboratory rentals on the private real-estate market in Germany creates a reliance on universities or publicly funded laboratories for many scientists seeking to develop, manufacture and market drugs, diagnostic tests, medical devices or fertilizers or new biotech applications. These universities also make a call for claims of the ideas generated by the scientific community in exchange for the provision of premises, research equipment or human capital. Only the respective universities can then regularly register patents and intellectual property rights. Therefore it is always difficult, if founding researchers need to purchase their own inventions from the university or college before they can sell their innovations separately, to set up and operate a business independently. In most cases, this is not only a complicated operation, but also a financial overload for scientists. In addition, German universities cannot sufficiently meet the ever-increasing demand for suitable premises.