The Competition

The Leading-Edge Cluster Competition was launched in 2007 within the scope of the high-tech strategy of the German Federal Government. The idea was to support the strategic further development of the most efficient clusters and so strengthen Germany’s position as a top location for innovation capable of facing up to international competition and to secure and/or create growth and jobs in the process.

www.spitzencluster.de

Its m⁴ Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapies initiative put the Munich Biotech Cluster among the winners of the second round of the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition in 2010. Funding of around € 40 million granted by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF) will be matched by partners from industry taking part in the scheme, who will contribute at least the equivalent amount from their own resources. The Bavarian Government is providing € 2 million to support the development of the cluster management and is making a further € 8.5 million available for a Bavaria-wide pre-seed funding programme for Personalized Medicine (m⁴ Award).

This means that, in the next five years, there will be almost € 100 million available for developing Munich into an “International Center of Excellence in Personalized Medicine and Targeted Therapies”, thus ensuring that the region remains sustainably competitive, internationally attractive and on target for further growth.