The Munich initiative m4 – Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapies was awarded Leading-Edge cluster status by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education in January 2010. For the next 5 years, a € 100m programme of public funds and in partnership with industry is set up to provide new standards in Biobanking, clinical trials and drug development. Nearly 40 projects are under way at different stages of clinical development.
 BioM Biotech Cluster Development GmbH BioM Biotech Cluster Development GmbH serves as the coordinating agency of the Munich Biotech Cluster, and is the top address for all biotechnology companies and start-ups in the region. The Munich Biotech Cluster is a constantly growing hotbed of innovation. The Greater Munich Area counts over 25,000 persons employed by more than 300 companies in the life science sector (Biotech, Pharma, CRO, Suppliers) making Munich one of the top regions in Europe. BioM provides support in marketing, communications, and public promotion, also maintaining an information portal at www.bio-m.org. The website offers an extensive company database, news updates and a job forum. In addition to business advice and help in business development, BioM offers a wide range of seminars and events to biotech entrepreneurs and their employees.
In the nationwide competition “Germany´s Leading-Edge Cluster” by German Ministry for Research and Education (BMBF) the Munich Biotech Cluster (coordinated by BioM) was awarded as one of 15 winners of very different technology fields like space- and aircraft, software, logistics … together with only 2 other local networks in LifeSciences. The Munich Biotech Cluster m4 with the new focus on “personalized medicine” is now receiving a grant of about € 40 Mio which is paralleled by a commitment of the local industry by another € 40 Mio and basic financing by the Bavarian Ministry of Economics of additional up to € 12 Mio – thus providing the region with  nearly €100 Mio for the new strategic program “m4 – personalized and targeted therapies leading to drug development in a new dimension” (www.m4.de)
About m4 – Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapies
The field of personalized medicine is a major future market. Diagnosis and therapy concepts are developed here which are tailored to the patient’s individual predispositions and symptoms. A key issue is meeting the challenges of today’s drug development such as improving safety and efficacy, reducing development periods and cutting costs. Over 100 partners from the midmarket biotech industry, large corporations, scientific institutions and clinics in and around Munich work together in the cluster on nearly 40 research projects in the areas oncology and cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. All of them and more information can be found at: www.m4.de
Contact Dr. Almut Graebsch BioM Biotech Cluster Development GmbH Am Klopferspitz 19a 82152 Martinsried Germany email: graebsch@bio-m.org phone (+49) (0)89 / 89 96 79 35 fax (+49) (0)89 / 89 96 79 79 www.bio-m.org www.m4.de