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For Immediate Release
Joachim Schropp,
Director, European Office
FairfaxCounty@t-online.de or +49 7000 324 7329
German biotechnology firms can win
space and services in a U.S. business incubator
Deadline for entries is May 31; BioM and BioTOP aiding Virginia competition
Fairfax County, Virginia, May 19, 2003—The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) and two German biotechnology groups—Munich-based BioM AG and BioTOP Berlin Brandenburg—are holding a competition to help German biotech companies expand into the U.S. market around Washington, D.C.
The deadline for entries is Saturday, May 31. The winning firm will get a free year of space and business development services—a €50,000 ($55,000) package – in the Fairfax County BioAccelerator, a new bioscience business incubator minutes from Washington.
A panel of experts with backgrounds in biotechnology, venture capital and the law will evaluate the entries. The winning firm will be announced in September.
“Germany is the largest biotech market in Europe, but the U.S. is the biggest market in the world and Fairfax County is uniquely situated for companies because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health,” said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the FCEDA. “This is a great opportunity for a German company to expand abroad far ahead of its normal schedule.”
Entry forms are available at www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org, or contact Joachim Schropp, FCEDA European Office Director, at FairfaxCounty@t-online.de.
The FCEDA also is holding a competition for British biotech firms to win space in the BioAccelerator. Entries in that competition are due by July 21st.
About the competition organizers
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a business and technology center. The FCEDA offers a wide range of free services to help companies locate and expand in Fairfax County. The FCEDA has marketing offices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
BioM AG (www.bio-m.de) is a financing, service and consulting company whose aim is to promote Munich as an international center of excellence in innovative biotechnology. BioM helps Munich-based companies find contacts and partners through seminars, workshops, exhibitions, partnering conferences and other events, and through venture capital programs.
BioTOP Berlin Brandenburg (www.biotop.de) is the central contact and coordination office for biotechnology issues in the German capital region. BioTOP’s objective is to coordinate all regional activities in biotechnology by networking with all key players and to initiate specific projects in order to turn Berlin-Brandenburg into a global center for biotechnology.
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