Global Business: Technology companies act international
The answer testified to his self assurance: “We integrate our technology basis specifically in partnerships,” replied Ulrich Reineke, head of 3B Pharmaceuticals (3BP), when asked to describe his company’s role in peptide based material research. The company Rina GmbH also works with a similar business model for its activities, which include cell free protein synthesis.
Founded in 2008 and operating since 2009 following a buyup from Jerini AG, 3BP has been in Adlershof since April 2010. In the field of pharmaceutical product development, Managing Director Reineke sees the company’s strength in its ability “to provide highly complex research services, something not anybody can do.” Peptide research, or work on the smallest variant of proteins, deals with the central regulatory mechanisms of biochemical processes. According to Reineke, there are by way of nature many approaches, and the current work involves researching with the pharmaceuticals company Baxter into new potential for thetreatment of haemophilia and working on diagnostic and therapeutic methods for oncology.
Today, he explained, specialisation is a key innovation driver on the sector, and major pharmaceuticals companies must rely on partners for the development of their drugs. Jan Michel, Business Manager of 3BP, added that licensing high quality research findings can be very lucrative: “Characteristic of this sector, our alignment is global from the very outset.”
An operator on the biotechnology sectors since 1998, Rina GmbH researches into cell-free protein synthesis. Collaborating with partners it has developed a whole line of in vitro protein expression kits that can quickly generate proteins for functional, structural, screening and interaction analyses as well as for manufacturing antibodies. In addition, the company offers biosyntheses for proteins and ribonucleic acids (hence Rina). Managing Director Leo W. Tristram describes the products Rina manufacturesas “industrial intermediates”.
Although he sees himself as part of RNA research, he nevertheless caters to a “niche market”. “It’s all about rights and patents in global business,” emphasised Tristram, a graduate lawyer, explaining that about 90% of his twenty five employees are scientists. His company has now been granted over a dozen patents. Located on the campus of FU Berlin, the company is now moving to Adlershof.
by Klaus Oberzig