Scents & Fragrances

The Global Perfume from Bitterfeld - Miltitz Aromatics comes up trumps for perfume

The perfumes are exported to over 26 countries worldwide, including the USA and Canada, South East Asia and North America. Whether perfume from Dior, Gucci, Joop or Jil Sander, scents from the company from Bitterfeld-Wolfen can be found in almost every bottle.

Because hardly anyone knows: the majority of scents and aromas which are used worldwide are developed in laboratories such as at Miltitz Aromatics. "It all started almost 20 years ago. The first major commission came from Grasse in France, the global capital for perfume. It was a job order production, i.e. according to the customer's specifications and we developed a violet perfume. Customised, so to speak, and we were thereby able to make our mark“, explains Müller.

"The violet perfume is a classical scent in perfume manufacturing and is very costly to produce.“ The fragrance obtained is refined in Grasse and is used as a perfume for cosmetics, washing-up liquid, detergent and even food flavouring substances.Miltitz Aromatics GmbH has more than 60 scent and aroma substances which have been developed in its own research laboratory on behalf of customers. In this way, for example, Dr. Peter Müller's team is the only manufacturer of the distinguished ambergris scent substance hydroxyambran which is used in perfume manufacturing for the characterisation of the base note. The smell is tobacco-like and woody and the perfume is described as having an aphrodisiac effect. Ambergris is produced in a natural way when sperm whales ingest their food. But not only because the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) prohibits the trade of sperm whale products, natural ambergris is no longer used. The synthetic manufacturing of the scent substance is also significantly more cost-efficient.

However, Miltitz Aromatics GmbH does not produce its own perfumes. "We have specialised in fulfilling customer wishes“, explains the aroma expert Peter Müller. "Research is carried out in our laboratory on behalf of our partners. Nothing is ready-made.“ In this way, the grapefruit scent was also created specifically for a customer, because the fresh, bitter scent is the secret perfume tip for summer 2011. The turnover figures show that this is the right decision. "This year we will break the 12 million euro turnover mark. In the past year, this figure was 11 million euros.

“Currently, the Miltitz experts are researching a new technology for a large plant which enables new innovations with cost-saving advantages. If things go as Managing Director Peter Müller describes, the new large plant should commence operation in the coming year, on the company's anniversary. "This would mean a significant wish would be fulfilled. Because raw materials can be offered even more cost-efficiently with this plant, assuring us a great deal of independence. “Perfume was produced by the Schimmel company in Miltitz near Leipzig as long as hundreds of years ago. Expropriated during the GDR era and transformed into a cosmetics state holding company, the start of the 1990s offered the opportunity to build on old traditions at the new site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. With the founding of the company, it was no coincidence that the name "Miltitz Aromatics“ was used. Today, Dr. Peter Müller and his 50 employees have regained its reputation for being perfume experts.

Audis e-fuels

new “e-benzin” fuel being tested

Audi is convinced of the potential of the fuels e-gas, “e-benzin” (e-gasoline) and e-diesel and is continuing to pursue its e-fuels strategy. In the case of synthetic Audi “e-benzin” (e-gasoline), the Ingolstadt company has now achieved an important intermediate goal. Together with their development partners, they have for the first time produced a sufficient quantity of regeneratively produced fuel for initial engine tests.

Together with Global Bioenergies S.A. in Leuna (Saxony-Anhalt), the largest batch of e-gasoline ever produced – 60 liters (15.9 US gal) – has been achieved. “Like all Audi e-fuels, the new fuel has many advantages. It isn't dependent on crude oil, it is compatible with the existing infrastructure and it offers the prospect of a closed carbon cycle,” said Reiner Mangold, Head of Sustainable Product Development at AUDI AG. Audi “e-benzin” (e-gasoline) is essentially a liquid isooctane. It is currently produced from biomass in a two-step process. In the first step, Global Bioenergies produces gaseous isobutene (C₄H₈) in a demonstration plant. In the second step, the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical Biotechnological Processes (CBP) in Leuna uses additional hydrogen to transform it into isooctane (C₈H₁₈). The fuel is free of sulfur and benzene and is therefore especially low in pollutants when it burns.

Audi engineers are now examining the combustion and emission behavior of the renewable fuel in a test engine. As a high-purity synthetic fuel with very good anti-knock properties, Audi “e-benzin” (e-gasoline) offers the possibility to further increase engine compression and thus boost efficiency. Over the medium term, the project partners aim to modify the production process so that it will not require biomass – in this case, CO₂ and hydrogen produced from renewable sources should be sufficient source materials.

Audi’s alternative fuels already offer great potential for sustainable mobility and are helping reduce CO₂ emissions from combustion engines – by up to 80 percent** in g-tron models, for example.

For Audi, e-fuels are more than just a subject of research in laboratories. Since 2013, the brand with the four rings has been offering renewable Audi e-gas on the market. It originates in part from the company’s own power-to-gas plant in Werlte (Emsland). Customers fill up their Audi g-tron model at any CNG filling station and pay the regular price for it. By feeding the computed volume of Audi e-gas into the natural gas grid, Audi ensures the green benefits of the program, including the corresponding reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Lignin

New life for an old fabric

The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems Magdeburg and the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP Leuna are cooperating in the BioEconomy Cluster Saxony-Anhalt.

Lignin is actually a waste product in the extraction of pulp. This organic material is stored in the plant cell wall and gives wood its compressive strength and breaking strength. It is estimated that millions of tons of lignin are produced from lignified biomass every year. To date, around 95 percent of this has been incinerated to generate process energy and recycle the digestion chemicals. So far, so bad!

The inconspicuous brownish powder can do more than just serve as fuel, says Peter Schulze, chemical engineer at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg.

He puts three small glasses on the lab bench. One with coarse wood chips, one with a black-brown liquid and the other with the brownish lignin powder. This is simplified by the OrganoSolv process for obtaining lignin and cellulose from lignocellulose, i.e. wood fibres, continues Peter Schulz.

The solution to an old problem

In the well-known OrganoSolv process, lignin is dissolved in ethanol and water at around 200 degrees Celsius. The lignin is then precipitated from the dark brown lignin solution by ethanol evaporation or water dilution. Afterwards it is filtered and dried. These precipitation processes are energy-intensive, uneconomical and difficult to control in practice. The chemical engineer explains that lignin starts to stick together into a viscous and pitch-black mass when the temperature and ethanol concentration of the cooking liquor reach a certain level. The fact was known. However, until now nobody knew exactly where the cooking liquor was perfectly balanced and the lignin could be precipitated without sticking together.

Until the research colleagues from the Fraunhofer Centre for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in Leuna asked for support in 2013. The 240 scientists and staff at the Max Planck Institute Magdeburg specialise in researching such dynamic and highly complex processes. In the same year, a cooperation agreement was concluded between the two institutes.

The task was assigned to 29-year-old chemical engineer Peter Schulze by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Seidel-Morgenstern, head of the Division of Physical-Chemical Fundamentals of Process Engineering. Peter Schulze can work and research independently as a project manager. But when he first heard about lignin, he had to read up on what kind of research subject he was dealing with, confesses Peter Schulze. It was tested for one year and analysed in countless series of measurements. "Then we had the solution and the perfect relationship," says Peter Schulze with some pride.

From laboratory to industrial production

In 2014, the improved lignin precipitation process was patented together with colleagues from the Fraunhofer CBP. And the results of Peter Schulze's analyses will soon flow into a pilot plant in Leuna, which produces lignin semi-continuously and on a larger scale. As a result, the gap between the laboratory and industrial implementation becomes much smaller. The different size distributions of the lignin particles are also conceivable, which will be important for further processing. After all, there is a lot of potential in this inconspicuous brownish powder. Firstly, it could be further processed into new, recyclable and CO2-neutral materials and can replace plastics based on fossil raw materials such as crude oil.

Peter Schulze is again busy with further measurements in his laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg. Although he first entered the free economy after studying chemical engineering at the Otto-von-Guericke University in the state capital, he has returned to science: "I needed new challenges and approached the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg in a targeted manner." He is currently working on his doctoral thesis, which of course deals with lignin. The inconspicuous brownish powder that has so much potential. It is the task of scientists and engineers at the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg to make them useful.

Anti-malarial drug

Green chemistry in the fight against malaria

Researchers from Saxony-Anhalt discover the efficient production of medicine to fight the tropical disease

Thanks to the improvement of chemical processes, researchers have succeeded in obtaining bigger quantities of the anti-malaria active ingredient Artemisinin from an Asian plant. The production is now more rapid and more environmentally-friendly than before. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg are playing a significant role in the research.

In many poorer countries, malaria is a widespread infectious disease. Some 650,000 people die of malaria every year, almost 90 percent of whom are children under the age of five. Although the disease can be treated, many people in developing countries are unable to afford the anti-malaria medicine. This situation could change in the future, however, thanks to research by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces near Potsdam and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg.

A plant from Asia produces an anti-malaria agent

In the 1970s, a scientist in China isolated the active agent Artemisinin in an Asian mugwort plant known as "Qinghao" (Artemisia Annua). The plant produces the protection against malaria over the course of a year to ward off its predators. It has a healing effect on people who are infected with malaria. Extracting a sufficient quantity of Artemisinin from the plant is not easy, however. The amount of Artemisinin in the leaves and stems varies according to the growth of the plants. Even at the optimum harvest time, the proportion is barely any more than one percent of the dry mass of the plant. Therefore, until now, a very considerable amount of the plant mass has been required to obtain the active ingredient. Malaria medicines are therefore relatively expensive.

Scientists have improved the extraction of the active agent

At the beginning of the 21st century, the research group under the aegis of the biochemist and professor Dr. Peter Seeberger, director at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces near Potsdam, discovered that a precursor substance for Artemisinin formed by plants before their harvesting could be converted into Artemisinin under laboratory conditions. This means it is possible to gain larger amounts of the anti-malaria agent from the plants.

Five years ago, Seeberger entered into contact with the process engineer prof. Dr. Andreas Seidel-Morgenstern from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg in the interests of further optimising the individual steps in the process and the complete material recovery process.

Environmentally-friendly and more cost-effective production of active agents

In the course of this collaboration, one of the significant steps forward was the finding that in order to obtain the Artemisinin precursor, the addition of a catalyst is not required. In her doctoral thesis, Susann Triemer, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg, succeeded in demonstrating that the green dye of chlorophyll which is produced by the plant can be used as a light-sensitive photocatalyst for the synthesis of the Artemisinin. "That's green chemistry," says Susann Triemer: the environmentally-friendly production of active agents which also reduces costs.

Faster than nature

In the laboratory, the reactions take place in hoses that are the size of a drinking straw. At a temperature of minus 20 degrees Celsius and an overpressure of six bars, the liquid plant extract flows through the tube reactors on a continuous basis. Under artificial light, the researchers have already achieved an Artemisinin yield of 67 percent. "Under laboratory conditions, in the space of a few minutes, we can do what the plant would take several days to achieve," explains Triemer.

The researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg are working on further improving the efficiency of the process chain so as to increase the yield of the anti-malaria active agents. In this respect, they are cooperating with Prof. Dr. Eng. Ulrike Krewer, Dr. René Schenkendorf and doctoral student Moritz Schulze from Braunschweig Technical University. They will be helping with the mathematical modelling of the processes. "We have to maintain an overview of the entire process chain, as it is only possible to produce Artemisinin without any hitches if there aren’t any bottlenecks," explains Professor Seidel-Morgenstern.

From the laboratory to the industrial scale

In principle, the technology is sturdy enough to be used in developing countries. In 2012, professor Seeberger launched the start-up company ArtemiFlow GmbH to test out the practical suitability on an industrial scale. With financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, it intends to create a test facility on an industrial scale. If the test runs are successful, production plants of various sizes are conceivable in many different parts of the world.

Green sugar

Learning from the little ones

International breakthrough: Biotechnologists from Saxony-Anhalt revolutionise the production of the sugar polymer Levan for cosmetics

A lot has been published about Levan in the scientific literature, explains Dr. Norbert Volk. Indeed, the biopolymer is considered to have great potential for use in drug production, as a prebiotic additive for food, and in the cosmetics industry.

He tells us that he actually came across the natural product by chance. As a scientist in the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, he supervises students studying for an international master's course. "For our practical laboratory work, we were seeking an organism that could produce proteins and then secrete them," he recalls, looking back to the events of more than three years ago. The students and scientists, who specialise in making natural biological processes usable for industrial production, succeeded in finding micro-organisms that produce Levan.

A gap in the market for Levan

This exopolysaccharide helps the tiny micro-organisms attach themselves to surfaces, such as to stones in rivers and streams. It provides protection against drying out, balances out fluctuations in temperatures, and serves as a nutrient reserve. It is these characteristics that make Levan interesting for skin creams in the cosmetics sector, for instance. "It conveys moisture, transports active ingredients and adheres well," explains Dr. Eng. Norbert Volk, which is why the team in Halle believe the natural product to have great potential.

Yet Levan is pretty much unavailable on the market and it’s also expensive. Developing a low-cost production process would therefore be worthwhile. The initial position was good, because the researchers had already worked out how the tiny organisms produce Levan. All they had to do was to imitate them.

Breakthrough: working like the micro-organisms

According to Dr. Volk, three or four working groups are working simultaneously on the production of Levan worldwide. The fact that his project achieved the breakthrough, however, has been down to good luck and the right idea in the partnership with the right partners and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which has been funding the joint project with four participants for two years. "Our product is the SucroLevan combined with a possible application,” explains Norbert Volk. The cosmetics manufacturer artefactum GmbH is a practical partner in the research network. The Society for the Promotion of Medical, Bio- and Environmental Technology (GMBU e.V.), with teams in Halle, Jena and Dresden, as well as Innovent e.V. Jena, are also part of the group. The company BioEconomyCluster Management GmbH from Halle/Saale is responsible for the economic consulting.

The biotechnologists at the university had spent around a year working on Levan synthesis when they formed the network and received the funding. Their strategy: to produce the enzyme that the micro-organisms use to produce Levan.

In the natural world, the Levan structure varies according to the environmental conditions. A long-chain, high-molecular Levan has different properties to a low-molecular Levan, for instance. It is the latter variant which is of interest for the production of cosmetics. High-molecular polymers also have a wide field of application, however.

The project partners optimised the production of the enzyme and then the production process for Levan itself. Innovent was responsible for the analytics, GMBU for the adaptation of the technology to large-scale use, and artefactum for the use of Levan in the production of cosmetics.

A cost-effective approach for achieving the pure product

The advantage of a process which is based on nature: "We obtain purer Levan with a lower workload," explains Dr. Norbert Volk. It is also possible to synthesize Levan directly from the micro-organism cultures, which is associated with higher purification costs, however. On the other hand, the production of the enzyme requires specific optimisation steps, so it isn’t surprising that the Central German researchers were the first to succeed. Enzymatic Levan production also requires special conditions, although it goes without saying that Norbert Volk keeps the details to himself.

Norbert Volk is convinced that even though the Central German researchers have pushed the SucroLevan project forward with a view to its use in the cosmetics industry and taken on a pioneering role at the international level, other extensive areas of application also exist in the pharmaceuticals and food industries. For example, Levan is also able to supplement or replace the much-praised and widely used hyaluronic acid, the production process of which is more complicated and expensive. "Research projects have been completed in Asia which suggest that Levan-hyaluronic acid blends could be used to treat osteoarthritis. An even bigger market is also likely to be dormant in the food industry. Here, food supplements which have prebiotic effects are currently being sought. That also applies to Levan," explains Nobert Volk, who is confident in a future in which the new technology is licensed by Martin Luther University.

New Alzheimer's Drug

Hope for new Alzheimer's drug from Saxony-Anhalt

The biopharmaceutical company Probiodrug from Halle/Saale, Saxony-Anhalt, is researching new approaches into fighting Alzheimer's disease. Probiodrug has been listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam since 2014. The company has successfully developed a new therapy concept for diabetics in the past.

Since 2007, no new drug has been approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The medical products currently available only treat the symptoms. "They improve the transmission of signals between the synapses. They don't prevent the neuronal decline, however," explains Konrad Glund. Glund is the co-founder and CEO of the biotechnology company Probiodrug which is based in Halle/Saale in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, a location that the entrepreneur believes to provide excellent conditions for research and development. "The research conditions are very good and they have improved further in recent years. Saxony-Anhalt offers interesting financial instruments and provides start-up financing and investor mediation. It also provides direct project funding."

For more than twelve years, the company has been conducting research into a concept of therapy for treating Alzheimer's disease. The researchers from Saxony-Anhalt have discovered a mechanism through which a normal brain peptide, called amyloid-beta, is chemically changed and therefore advances the disease. An active ingredient developed by the company, encoded with PQ912, prevents this modification with the goal of delaying or stopping the progression of the disease. The extensive animal studies to have been completed so far have provided impressive confirmation of this. This could amount to a breakthrough in the development of a drug to fight against the disease. At present, 46 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease worldwide, a figure that is expected to increase to 132 million by 2050. According to the World Alzheimer Report 2015, the global costs to society are estimated to total more than 818 billion US dollars.

Since March of last year, the test substance PQ912 has been in clinical test phase IIa, on patients in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The clinical trials are currently ongoing at 18 centres in seven European countries; the results should be available in early 2017. Additional detailed clinical trials are necessary in order to demonstrate efficacy and safety before PQ912 can be submitted for an approval procedure.

Probiodrug is also researching an antibody that binds and breaks down the amyloid beta that is changed by the active ingredient on a highly specific basis. These antibodies are currently undergoing preclinical testing.

The company was launched in 1997 as a spin-out of the Hans Knöll Institute for Natural Product Research Jena and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The co-founder and long standing director of research Hans-Ulrich Demuth discovered and patented a new principle for diabetes treatment, DP-4 inhibition. This principle led to the development of a new class of anti-diabetic drugs, gliptins. It currently generates billions in sales every year worldwide. Probiodrug has issued licenses to pharmaceuticals companies. In 2004, the entire business division for Diabetes was then sold to an American company.

Probiodrug then focused on the development of treatments for Alzheimer's disease. The research and development work is being managed by Inge Lues and represented on the executive board; Hendrik Liebers is CFO. Mark Booth was recently appointed to the position of business development director with his primary focus being the USA, where the company from Saxony-Anhalt wants to expand its business activities in the future. Probiodrug's attendance at the BIO International Convention 2016 conference in San Francisco, where the company will present itself along with other innovative biotech companies from Saxony-Anhalt from 6^th until 9^th June, is another important step along this path.

Probiodrug has been listed on the Euronext in Amsterdam since 2014. Up until then, 80 million Euros had already been invested in the company and its programme, with a further 36 million from leading investment funds having been added subsequently. The money is being invested in the current development projects. Konrad Glund explains how everyone is aware that the development of new pharmaceuticals products involves very high risks. "That's the price of genuine innovations. Probiodrug has characterised the approach for the new therapy in great detail, and with the data that has been generated by us, and increasingly by other pharmaceuticals companies, we are looking to the future with confidence."

Konrad Glund also tells us that Saxony-Anhalt offers excellent conditions for research and development: "The research conditions are very good and they have improved further in recent years. Saxony-Anhalt offers interesting financial instruments and provides start-up financing and investor mediation. Direct project funding is also available for research and development."

Vaccine Research

Modern vaccine research with a longstanding tradition

Vaccinations are among the most important and successful strategies for preventing dangerous infectious diseases. One company that has been developing and marketing innovative products and services for sustaining the health of humans and animals in this tradition for the past 95 years is IDT Biologika. This medium-sized business, which currently has 1,600 employees and recorded an annual turnover of 201.5 million Euros in 2015, has helped the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt to develop into an internationally acclaimed centre for biopharmaceutical knowledge. With new cooperation partners on its side, the company IDT Biologika is now well on course for globalisation.

“We want to use our strong presence at the BIO International in San Francisco, which is being supported by the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt, to expand and consolidate our market position at the international level", explained Dr. Ralf Pfirmann, CEO of IDT Biologika. On the path to the globalisation of its business, IDT Biologika will continue to rely heavily on innovations in research, development and manufacturing processes, as well as the personal commitment of all its employees.”

The history of the company from Saxony-Anhalt dates back to the year 1921, when a Bacteriological Institute was founded in Dessau. The institute was dedicated to fighting pandemic diseases – especially tuberculosis. Just a few years after its foundation, the first human and veterinary vaccines were developed at the institute, including vaccines against erysipelas, tetanus and diphtheria. After the production facilities were almost completely destroyed in World War Two, their reconstruction and conversion took place in the form of a state-owned corporation (VEB) that specialised on animal vaccines. Four years after the reunification of Germany, entrepreneur Hartmut Klocke led the way in converting the organisation situated in Dessau-Tornau into a private company (GmbH) which then had 130 employees. Thanks to public and private investments, IDT Biologika – as the company is now known – achieved rapid growth.

It now counts more than 1,600 employees. Its principal location is the BioPharmaPark in Dessau-Roßlau, it has a branch for research and production in Greifswald. In Denmark, and in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Canada and China, IDT Biologika has sales offices for the area of veterinary medicine. In the USA, IDT manufactures vaccines for clinical phases, while in Canada, stock vaccines for livestock are manufactured in the IDT subsidiary Gallant Custom Laboratories.

In the area of animal health, IDT Biologika has now developed and manufactured more than 50 animal health products. These include vaccines against influenza and against oedema disease, a frequent disease in weaning piglets, as well as new medicines to improve the blood circulation in tissues, and medicines against parasites that can transmit diseases to dogs and cats.

Along with animal health, IDT has established itself as a globally-recognised company in the area of contract manufacturing. It develops and produces vaccines for international customers and fills and packages sterile pharmaceuticals in liquid form. For this purpose, two new, ultra-modern production complexes have been constructed on a total area of around 6,000 square meters. With these new facilities it is possible to package and ship up to 60 million injection bottles per year – providing the best conditions for the further expansion of the pharmaceutical company.

Vaccine Platform

The fight against animal epidemics: low cost and effective

Scientists from central Germany aim to succeed with a revolutionary idea

In the shape of the VEROVACCiNES research project, scientists from the Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt have developed a novel vaccine platform to fight animal epidemics. With its cost-saving process, VEROVACCiNES is one of the winners of the highly endowed GO-Bio competition held by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. In 2017, the university project is to be outsourced and a veterinary pharmaceutical company will be founded.

The idea is completely revolutionary: Harmless viral components are created in modified and patented milk yeast cells (kluyveromyces lactis) which are subsequently injected into animals, and through the massive activation of the immune system, provide one hundred percent protection against viral infections. This new approach to the development of viral vaccines was discovered by researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg in Germany. Over the course of five years, the two working groups led by Prof. Sven-Erik Behrens - Virology - and Prof. Karin Breunig - Yeast Genetics - developed the technology in the VEROVACCiNES project, the efficacy of which has now been proven. VEROVACCiNES is to be established as a company in 2017. The company is to be based in the central German city of Halle/Saale on the Weinberg Campus, one of the biggest centres for technology and new business start-ups in Germany.

The vaccine is cheap and safe to make, and has a high degree of effectiveness, says Dr. Hanjo Hennemann, Molecular Biologist and currently working on the founding of the company. "The special thing is the specialist use of our yeast. It is easy to use, has undemanding nutritional conditions and is also very reasonably priced." From the amount of yeast equivalent to a standard cube of baker's yeast, it would be possible to produce 50,000 doses of the vaccine! It is therefore a suitable tool. After fermentation, the yeast cells with the non-hazardous components of the virus are dried directly, killed and processed into powder without the separation of the virus components. Before use, the vaccine powder is dissolved in an aqueous solution and can then be injected directly under the animal's skin. "The virus components remain in the yeast; this omits the high-cost purification process. The second advantage is that the yeast cells themselves cause a basic stimulation of the immune system. Together with the formation of antibodies, this results in a very strong immune response," explains Dr. Hennemann. According to the biotech entrepreneur, the vaccination platform could also be of considerable importance for threshold and developing countries: Since the vaccination powder does not need cooling it is easy to store and especially interesting for countries with a hot climate.

VEROVACCiNES now has proof of effectiveness for three different vaccinations: infectious bursal disease, viral bovine diarrhoea and avian flu. Two additional vaccines are in an early stage of development. Researchers are also working on a new technology in order to generate combination vaccines. At the same time, the new method is considerably more cost saving than conventional processes in which every vaccine component in a combined preparation has to be prepared individually and is only merged into a finished preparation in the end. VEROVACCINES produces yeast cells, however, which already contain all of the individual components. "We already have different experimental combinations but we don't yet have a finished vaccine. “If its production were to succeed," explains Hanjo Hennemann, "that would mean huge progress."

The new vaccine is not yet on the market as a medical product. "The vaccine for infectious bursal disease is optimised to the extent that it can go into clinical trials. The requirements of the tests are very specific, however, and we are unable to carry them out ourselves," explains Hanjo Hennemann. Discussions are currently under way with two veterinary pharmaceutical companies that want to test two of the vaccines.

Intense preparations are also taking place for establishing a veterinary pharmaceutical company. The feedback from national and international investors has been positive. VEROVACCINES is now seeking publicity with the goal of attracting interest. This year, for example, researchers from Saxony-Anhalt - as the only contribution from Germany - participated in the European Animal Health Investment Forum in London.

Investment funds need to be secured, and the initial sales achieved, in time for the aspired launch of the company next May.

With its idea, in 2012, the team of researchers was one of the winners of the Go-Bio competition held by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The goal of the highly endowed GO-Bio programme is to support developments from fundamental research all over Germany in order to enable the founding of biotechnology companies. The competition is big and the success rate is low: of 100 participants there are only around five winners per round. Hanjo Hennemann is proud to be in the winning group. Its success in the differing funding programmes has so far seen the group earning five million Euros in support. "This new and exceptionally flexible vaccine technology and the vaccines generated with it provide the ideal conditions for healthy animal rearing and the safe production of food products," explains Hennemann.

Pharmaceutical Proteins

Unique microbial technologies for the production of pharmaceutical proteins

Wacker Biotech a Europe-wide leader with the production of bacterial biologics

The biotechnology company Wacker Biotech GmbH is a contract producer of pharmaceutical proteins. Its areas of business include molecular biology, analysis and process development as well as the production of active pharmaceutical agents for clinical studies. In the city of Halle in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, WACKER is also producing an active pharmaceutical agent for a previously approved drug to treat heart disease.

Biopharmaceuticals or "Biologics" are medicines which are produced in living organisms with the help of biotechnology, such as bacteria, yeast cells or mammalian cell cultures. They are the new weapons in the fight against cancer and autoimmune diseases in particular. The demand for pharmaceutical proteins is therefore huge: They are now the fastest growing market for therapeutic agents and already account for 20 percent of the entire pharmaceuticals market. "Until 2020, the global market for biopharmaceuticals is set to grow by an average rate of nine percent and a volume of about 280 billion US dollars," explains Sebastian Schuck, Manager of the Business Development department at Wacker Biotech GmbH.

As a highly specialised contract producer of therapeutic proteins, the biotechnology company develops and produces specialist pharmaceutical proteins in the city of Halle in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt as well as in nearby Jena. While around two thirds of the therapeutic proteins on the market are produced with mammalian cell cultures, WACKER only uses microbial systems. "We define ourselves as being European leaders in the provision of biologics that are of purely bacterial origin," explains Sebastian Schuck. We are therefore a specialist in the niche area of the contract production of pharmaceutical proteins. The customers of WACKER include internationally active pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

"Our customers approach us because it has been evident for some years that it isn't possible to make all biotherapeutic products with the standard system. It's a great opportunity for us in the market," explains Schuck, who holds a PhD in molecular biology. WACKER is also able to offer unique solutions for products that are hard to make, for which many of the major competitors no longer have the required expertise. The background is that the production of novel active agent formats such as antibody fragments using conventional mammalian cells is much more complex, time-consuming and expensive.

WACKER ascertained the long term importance of bacterial systems at an early stage: Wacker Biotech GmbH is now a contract producer of biologics with over 25 years' experience in microbial systems. The company which has been a one hundred percent subsidiary of the global company Wacker Chemie AG since 2005 was established in the year 1999 with the name ProThera GmbH in Jena (Thuringia). About two and a half years ago, WACKER took ownership of the facilities and technology of the biotechnology company Scil Proteins Production GmbH in the city of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. On this basis, WACKER was able to decisively expand its production capacities. With the Halle location, the company now has fermenter capacities of up to 1,500 litres. "The acquisition in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt was an important step in accompanying our pharmaceutical customers from the clinical testing to supplying the market," explains Sebastian Schuck. "It proved to be the ideal addition to our position in the market. This is also acknowledged internationally - reflected in increasing demand and the positive response in the market," explains Sebastian Schuck.

The company Wacker Biotech GmbH has 180 employees in Jena and Halle. Sebastian Schuck goes on to praise the excellent conditions at the Weinberg Campus in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the biggest centres for technology and new business start-ups in Germany. The ability to hire talented young people adjacent to the academic environment of the university campus is a genuine location advantage, and one that the company needs: Wacker Biotech intends to continue expanding as a contract producer of proteins and active agents for the pharmaceuticals industry.

For the contract production of medicines made using biotechnology and for wide-ranging therapeutic use, cost-efficient production is a decisive factor. "For biopharmaceuticals, gram prices of over 10,000 Euros are frequently quoted for the production of the active agents. Medicines sometimes never make it to the market because they fail to pass the cost-benefit assessment. Our systems help make the production costs more efficient," explains Sebastian Schuck. Higher yields and efficient preparation - WACKER fulfils these requirements surrounding the contract production of proteins with its proprietary technology platforms. ESETEC^® and FOLDTEC^® are two unique, patent protected procedures in the market which make a decisive contribution to the development of modern and resource-saving production processes.

With its innovative technologies for the efficient production of biopharmaceuticals, WACKER has recently been nominated for the highly regarded "Innovation Prize of the German Economy". "This prize is awarded to the leading scientific, technical, entrepreneurial and intellectual property innovations in the German economy each year. We are very happy about our nomination because it shows we offer unique technology which is acknowledged beyond the pharmaceuticals industry."

"We intend to continue developing our technology platforms. We don't just want to be a straightforward service provider, we want to offer innovative technologies which aren't available anywhere else," explains Sebastian Schuck. To be able to achieve this, they want to expand. Along with several other innovative biotech companies from Saxony-Anhalt, Wacker will be attending the BIO International 2016 in San Francisco with its own stand. "We want to increase our presence in the USA because of its importance as one of the key markets for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology," explains Sebastian Schuck, Manager of the Business Development department.

Customised Proteins

Purification of Biopharmaceuticals & Diagnosis

The biotechnology company Navigo Proteins from the city of Halle in the German federal state of Saxony-Anhalt develops customised proteins which can be used for both the purification of biopharmaceuticals as well as for diagnostic purposes. The company is a leading international specialist for the optimising of proteins and expects to achieve profitability in the year 2018.

The biotechnology company Navigo Proteins from Halle in Saxony-Anhalt has recently announced a cooperation with the company ITM AG of Munich, a specialist in the production of radio-pharmaceuticals. With their technology, the scientists at Navigo Proteins are to develop a protein which makes possible cancer foci in the patient's body visible and subsequently permits treatment. To this end, the protein that has been customised especially for this treatment is loaded with a radio-isotope. If the patient is suffering from cancer, this binds to the tumour so that it can be rendered visible and localised with imaging procedures. In addition to this diagnostic application, as a radio-pharmaceutical, the molecule also has therapeutic potential, however, as the radiation intensity of the radio isotope can be used in order to shrink the tumour. The benefits are clear: the procedure is much less stressful for the patient than classic radiotherapy because it is locally limited and only affects the tumour directly.

The protein-based procedure for a new diagnosis and treatment of cancer is being developed by Navigo Proteins in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt on the Weinberg Campus, one of the biggest centres for technology and new business start-ups in Germany. Afflerbach praises the conditions for the biotech sector in Saxony-Anhalt and in the university city of Halle. "The state has provided support to the Weinberg Campus. The infrastructure is superb, it offers a genuine location advantage of the possible recruitment for young scientists who are made available by the university in Halle, with its focus on protein biochemistry."

 "Our core expertise is changing proteins and customising protein molecules for a specific purpose," explains Henning Afflerbach, one of the two managing directors of Navigo Proteins from Halle. The small biotechnology company from Saxony-Anhalt, with 36 employees, defines itself as a specialist and European market leader in the area of the modification of proteins – protein engineering. "We have managed to make a good name for ourselves beyond Europe," explains Afflerbach. It also counts customers for its specific proteins for use in biopharmaceuticals from the USA and Canada.

Navigo Proteins' key focus is its patented Affilin® technology. "The Affilins are very small and very stable; they do not induce any unintended immunological responses," explains Henning Afflerbach. The Affilin® behaves "very well" towards modifications, and can therefore be altered on a manifold basis without changing its structure or losing its function. The concept of the Affilins from Saxony-Anhalt has also convinced the pharmaceuticals producers ITM from Munich, which develops new radio-pharmaceuticals. This is because the high adaptability of the Affilins satisfies the requirement for the combination of precision diagnostics and effective therapy in one approach.

A further strength is the technical application of the Affilin® technology in modern biopharmaceuticals production processes. Through the use of Affilins in the process known as affinity chromatography, the otherwise expensive and time-consuming procedures can be very much shortened; they also make the process scalable and predictable and above all, cost-effective. Scil Proteins is due to announce further commercial partnerships with major pharmaceuticals companies which will be making use of the technology from Halle in the future.

In the last two and a half years, the scientists and employees have focused their technology platform on the application fields of protein-based diagnostics and affinity chromatography. Managing director Afflerbach tells us that the feasibility has now been demonstrated and the commercialisation is under way. They are aiming to achieve profitability in 2018. This would be an exceptional achievement, because it was only two years ago, in 2014, that the biotechnology company founded in Halle in 1999 made a completely new start. It was then that its sister company, Scil Proteins Production, was sold.

Following this, it was important to find a strategy for being able to enter the market quickly with one’s own products, explains Henning Afflerbach today. By focusing on a clearly more effective, lower cost technical purification of proteins on the basis of its own Affilin® platform technology and on Affilin® based diagnostics as a straightforward service provider, the Halle company's change of strategy succeeded. "The international response demonstrates that we have taken the right path," says Afflerbach.

ZMapp

Production technology for ZMapp comes from Saxony-Anhalt

High-tech research by Icon Genetics and Nomad Bioscience is world renown

Icon Genetics and Nomad Bioscience are two high-tech companies based in Halle/Saale that develop production technologies for manufacturing biopharmaceuticals and low-cost proteins. Areas of application are molecular biology and biotechnology. The production method with which ZMapp is manufactured in the USA comes from Halle. The Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt spoke to the founder of the companies, Dr Yuri Gleba.

You founded Icon Genetics in the USA in 1999 and later relocated to Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. In 2008 you set up your second company Nomad Bioscience, also located in Halle. What are your reasons for choosing this location?

As a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, I visited Halle many times after German reunification as I have many colleagues at both the university and the Leopoldina. It therefore seemed logical to consider relocating Icon here from the USA. I have never regretted this decision. The city of Halle and the state of Saxony-Anhalt have developed good partnerships. The infrastructure here is excellent for small high-tech companies, such as Biozentrum Halle GmbH or Bio Mitteldeutschland GmbH. We work together with the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben and the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry in Halle as well as the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

How many people are employed at Icon Genetics and Nomad Bioscience?

We have 33 employees at both research companies in Halle. With the exception of two managers, they are all engaged in high-tech scientific work in the fields of molecular biology and biotechnology. The vast majority of scientists and specialists that we have employed in recent years graduated from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

What synergies can your two companies make use of with the settlement at the same location?
By using similar technologies, which are applied in different fields, we can make the most of the expertise of all our scientists. Our researchers are all equally qualified for the exhaustive assignments. Both companies can therefore contract out assignments with one another. This provides a cash flow for a more financially stable company.

In the meantime, Icon Genetics GmbH had been acquired by the Leverkusen pharmaceutical company Bayer. How did that come about?

The Leverkusen pharmaceutical company Bayer acquired the Icon company in 2006 because the company was planning a cancer vaccine that, according to those responsible, would best be manufactured within our production conditions. I continued working as the managing director. Bayer later decided to discontinue the development of this substance. The company therefore no longer had any use for the production technology of Icon. My other company Nomad Bioscience bought back Icon Genetics GmbH in 2012.

Do you still collaborate with Bayer?

There is extensive cooperation between the Icon parent company Nomad Bioscience and Bayer CropScience. BCS is our strategic partner in the field of agriculture.

In which business area does your second company Nomad Bioscience operate?

Nomad Bioscience develops technologies for the production of industrial enzymes and biomaterials which are used in food safety and agriculture. In contrast, Icon serves human and veterinary health and is active in the defence against biological agents. Both companies use similar production platforms. But while Nomad focuses on the production of low-cost proteins, Icon focuses on high-quality biopharmaceuticals.

Icon is currently causing a stir with the ZMapp drug against Ebola. It is manufactured in the USA based on the technology that your company has developed.

We have developed a biotechnology, with which the molecular blueprint for antibodies is introduced into tobacco plants. Tobacco mosaic virus and agrobacterium induce the tobacco plant to mass-produce antibodies under suitable greenhouse conditions. The antibodies can then be harvested from the leaves after about one month. This patented method is now used by some drug manufacturers as well as for the production of Ebola medicine.'

Who does this include?

Mapp Pharmaceuticals from the USA develops the antibody mixture. KBP, also from the USA, have the production capacity to manufacture ZMapp compounds (currently in limited quantities).

Do your two companies in Halle have other economic or scientific cooperation projects, either nationally or internationally?

Both Nomad Bioscience and Icon Genetics have several large companies in the USA, Germany and Japan as their customers. Due to mutual agreement, we cannot disclose the company names.

About Dr Yuri Gleba

The scientific career of Dr Yuri Gleba began in the former Soviet Union (PhD from Kiev in 1975, professor and additional doctorate in Leningrad in 1989). He worked at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kiev from 1975 to 1991. He moved with his family to the USA in 1991 and joined American Home Products in Princeton. There he worked as department manager for plant biotechnology. He left the company in 1999 and founded Icon Genetics, which was later relocated to Germany. Gleba heads Icon Genetics GmbH in Halle as well as Nomad Bioscience GmbH, which was founded in 2008. He also manages the company Nomads in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Fluorescent proteins

NH DyeAGNOSTICS GmbH in Halle /Saale develops proof processes on the basis of fluorescence dyes, thus conquering international niche markets

“My curiosity was always greater than my fear,” says Jan Heise from Halle with reference to the venture of setting up business from science. His company, NH DyeAGNOSTICS GmbH, has now been on the market for nearly ten years. On the basis of special technologies for identifying proteins, NHD develops products for proof processes in research as well as in routine diagnostics, thus conquering international niche markets.

In the company name, NH DyeAGNOSTICS GmbH, “Dye” stands for very special fluorescence dyes. They were developed in Halle at the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry (IPB) in connection with a new analysis process that makes proteins visible at molecular level. At that time, molecular biologist Jan Heise worked as a post-doc at the IPB. However, it soon became clear to him that he would not find one-hundred per cent fulfilment in science alone. He says he saw major business potential in this new colouring technology at the time. “The technology makes it possible, for example, to carry out comparative protein analyses in the blood with the new fluorescence dyes. In this way, for instance, defence proteins against swine flu are identified that can then be the basis for a therapeutic agent,” says Heise.

The NHD Managing Director stresses that up to now there has been only one similar process worldwide, offered by a global player. Establishing a first spin-off company from the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry with the alternative technology and taking on the competition was also a sporting challenge for the young scientist. Single-mindedness, endurance and perseverance are among his “virtues”, which the banks also like to assess as outstanding characteristics of a business personality.

Jan Heise is a competitive sportsman, a passionate rower. In 2011, his quadruple sculls was victorious at the world championships in Poland. “The fact that the double Olympic champion in rowing, Thomas Lange, came from Halle was a motivation for me to go there to study in 1993,” says Heise. A slight twinkle can be seen in his eye. It was, namely, above all his zest for action that moved the Flensburg-born scientist to go to Halle. With the urge to “dome something” or to “make something happen”, he was determined to go to the east at the time in order to participate in the development of a “whole Germany” in this part of the country. He had already had a lively interest in divided Germany, often visiting his relatives in Saxony-Anhalt as a school pupil in the 1980s.

Halle has since developed into an internationally important centre of protein research. NH DyeAGNOSTICS GmbH is also based there, at the Weinberg Campus Technology Park. The magazine Wirtschaft+Markt names the company as one of the 150 most innovative in East Germany. A small company without an internationally renowned brand must be highly innovative, comments Jan Heise on the rating. Half of NHD’s staff are employed in research and development. This department is led by Heise’s wife, Jana. In 2010, the doctor of biochemistry left Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg to become part of their own company – also contributing the N of her maiden name to the company name NH DyeAGNOSTICS. “My wife is good at thinking out my ideas for new products and implementing them. So we complement each other well,” says Jan Heise.

The head of the company himself spends a quarter of his working time monitoring and analysing the fast-moving biotechnology market. Marketing and sales are also largely part of his work, says Heise, who adds that a good relationship with the customer is developed mainly through personal contact.

The expertise of NH DyeAGNOSTICS GmbH is now acknowledged by many customers from the fields of science, industry and medicine. “We develop fast and reliable proof processes that are automated to such an extent that their result no longer depends on the quality of the manual work in the laboratory,” says Heise. In addition to identifying new protein biomarkers for diagnosing diseases, characterising certain proteins in complex protein mixtures is also a special area of NHD, he says.

In 2016, the company received one of the sought-after Hugo Junkers awards for research and innovation from Saxony-Anhalt for special fluorescent polypeptides, or SEPO for short. Jan Heise explains that EPO doping plays a central role in endurance sport. Here, doping athletes inject themselves with synthetically produced EPO, which leads to the increased production of red blood cells in the body. This artificial EPO is usually injected in only very small quantities, but at regular intervals. Hence, it has so far not been proven. However, using the SEPO technology from NH DyeAGNOSTICS, this is now possible, says Heise.

“Since there are only 35 EPO laboratories worldwide, developing and marketing such a proof process is financially uninteresting to large companies. We, however, have thus tapped a niche market,” says the head of the company, adding that this international positioning is of great value when it comes to profiling themselves as a supplier for the development of so-called blockbusters.

And “profiling” is what he next focuses on. Jan Heise knows from his own experience: “If a scientist wants to become an entrepreneur, he must also work a great deal on himself. For example, he must learn the rules of the game when it comes to dealing with representatives from industry and business.” Heise speakes of the attribute of putting oneself in the role of the customer, the investor or the strategic partner. He says he needed several training courses to learn how to do this. Now, he himself gives seminars on the topics of “setting up business” and “marketing and sales for company founders”. It corresponds to his sporting team spirit to pass on his valuable knowledge. After all, he says, it is only in association with good entrepreneurs and employers that one attracts corresponding attention to a strong business location.

Aeroplane Cup

The stuff that art is made of: thinking outside the box with biopolymers

Can big stories of innovation and inspiration be found in a little cup? The Merseburg “Exipnos GmbH” gives the answer with its revival of the “aeroplane cup”. For the conference “Biopolymer – Processing & Moulding” in June in Halle (Saale), this Merseburg company, which specialises in plastic compounds, and its cooperation partners are breathing life back into this design piece from the 30s. This cup is brimming with ideas and at the same time dishwasher safe and biodegradable.

Marguerite Friedlaender-Wildenhain would surely have approved of what is now happening with her little cup. This artist from Lyon loved being innovative in her work. Daring to do something new and thinking way outside the box. Possibilities for this opened up for the Weimar Bauhaus student in the 30s at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle (Saale), where she ran the ceramics and porcelain workshop. She designed the “aeroplane cup” in 1931 / 32, while outfitting the new Halle-Leipzig Airport. Simple, small, white. The cup, which is shaped in a modern design style, has no handle but instead a deep foot rim which grips into the holed centre of the saucer. Nothing can upset it. It stands firmly and cannot be budged.

The cup received a small revival in the form of a limited small batch on the occasion of the inauguration of the international airport in Leipzig at the start of the new millennia. It is now experiencing a rebirth and is at the same time a symbol of the spirit of research and invention to be found in Saxony-Anhalt and of the economic currents successfully blending there. Three quarters of a century after it was designed, the “Ringmoccatasse”, as the artist called it, has lost none of its originality and functionality. It has been left unscathed by the passing of times and fashions.

“Rethinking the world” in the Bauhaus Anniversary Year 2019

It is in good company. In Saxony-Anhalt, the ideas of modernism were already developed and tried out in the 20s and 30s – in Magdeburg, Halle (Saale), Leuna, Stendal and Zeitz, among other places. The Bauhaus thrived in Dessau. Here, in 1925/26, Walter Gropius erected the building that has become an icon of modernity and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. In the coming year, Saxony-Anhalt will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding as one of the most important achievements of the 20th century. “Rethinking the world” –  the motto of the anniversary, which is also being celebrated on the international stage, is a good opportunity for once again thinking much further “outside the box”.

100 years of tradition in the chemicals and plastics industry

Because it is no coincidence, of course, that “Exipnos GmbH” and its cooperation partners are reviving the “aeroplane cup”. It is intended to be a gift at the international conference “BIOPOLYMER – Processing & Moulding”, which receives interested visitors travelling from many different parts of the world. The Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Centre for Polymer Synthesis and Polymer Processing in Schkopau provides the test capacities and know-how for the “cup gift”; the chemical company BASF, based in Saxony-Anhalt with a plant in Leuna, supplies the versatile bioplastic “ecovio^®”, which is biodegradable and bio-based. As well as the cup, a lot of questions about bio-based and biodegradable plastics are going to be tabled at the conference on 19 and 20 June – in cooperation with Burg Giebichenstein in Halle (Saale), where creative students and fresh start-ups still develop their ideas and put them on the market. Peter Putsch, who is the boss of “Exipnos” and also the Chairman of the “POLYKUM Association for the Promotion of Polymer Development and Plastics Technology in Central Germany", is looking forward to the conference and says: “World market leaders and hidden champions meet during the conference, but also small to medium-sized companies. We talk to injection moulders, processors and users.” The attendees get an update on bio-plastics and what is going on in the chemical triangle. Because Halle (Saale) is not just a popular place to study and work for creative people whose industry has established itself as the “key economic sector” in Saxony-Anhalt thanks to interdisciplinary teams. The city on the Saale and its Central German urban neighbours can at the same time look back on more than 100 years of tradition in the chemicals and plastics industry. After 1990 one of the world’s most efficient chemical sites was created in the metropolitan region of Central Germany. This branch of industry is currently once again among the most important growth sectors in the region.  

Focus on bioeconomy and bio-based industry

The bioeconomy and the bio-based economy have developed into an important mainstay. It is not for nothing that Saxony-Anhalt is part of the focal region of the Central German top cluster “BioEconomy”. It receives important academic input from, among other places, the Science Campus Halle (Saale), where four of the region’s Leibnitz Institutes cooperate with institutes of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg and devote themselves to the subject of “plant-based bioeconomy”. Countless interdisciplinary teams here are also thinking way outside the box thanks to the “Saxony-Anhalt Regional Innovation Strategy 2014-2020”.

What is normal anyway?

Peter Putsch is also aware of its importance. It also spurs him on that the field of “Chemistry and Bioeconomy” is one of the five leading markets identified by the state government. Not only as an honorary chairman of the “POLYKUM” promotional association, but also as an entrepreneur, he, like many representatives of the industry, drives forward innovation. “The requirements for plastics in high-tech industries are very high”, he says. At his Merseburg company “Exipnos”, materials are produced which are flowing during processing and impact-resistant in the end product – characteristics that are normally mutually exclusive. “But what is normal, anyway?”, asks Putsch. “Many of the compounds that we produce today were considered by experts to be wishful thinking just a few years ago.” He is convinced “that biopolymers will soon no longer be a niche subject but be part of the standard and could turn the whole plastics industry upside down”. For more than 90 years the company has stood for innovations in the field of plastic development and processing, and cultivated contacts for gaining for further findings. And this is not just with partners from the same industry. “The borders of the industry are fluid, we cooperate with everyone who helps the products”, says Peter Putsch. “We are open to new ideas and approaches, however crazy they might sound at first.”

A small cup with great symbolic power

And this is where the “aeroplane cup” with the hole in the matching saucer comes in. Design and plastic go together – almost like mocha and a cup. The idea of the biodegradable cup was not so airy-fairy at all, says Putsch, and he met with a lot of agreement when he brought it to the conference. The “fresh aeroplane cup” of Marguerite Friedlaender is now brimming with biopolymer know-how and has always been a strong design. It is thus a symbol for ideas that might at first seem like “pie in the sky”.

Vinyl Revolution

Revolution of the vinyl record

When one thinks of records, one equates them with vinyl. For the past 70 years these discs have been made out of vinyl, aka PVC, the basis of which is petroleum, an environmentally-harmful product in terms of both its production and disposal. And architects and designers have been avoiding this material for several decades – mainly because environmentally-friendly, organically-based plastics are available. In this respect, why shouldn’t it be possible for vinyl records to be made from other materials as well?

Trial and error: seeing what works at first hand

At the time, Alexander tried to find the answer to this question in his kitchen by making a shape similar to a baking mould so as to reproduce the grooves of the records. The student pours what he finds in and around the apartment into the mould. He tries it with frozen chocolate, with beeswax, with sugar-water and with concrete. The beeswax record is easy to make, but the soft material scratches after just one use. The chocolate works only briefly as well. Things work out the best with the concrete. "At that time, I was just trying to find out what was generally possible," says the 30-year-old, remembering his initial experiments.

That the student of Play and Learning Design at Burg Giebichenstein starts to look at the vinyl records from a sustainable, creative perspective, has to do with the "Kling und Klang" project at the university, where he and his fellow design students address the topic of music reproduction. In this context, Alexander first looks at the history of sound recording, then immerses himself deeper into the materials behind it and builds a piece of equipment "to understand the principle of production". The 30-year-old is accustomed to combining theory and practice. Before he began studying design, the native of Cottbuss learned the rare trade of organ and harmonium builder in Bad Liebenwerda. As an up-and-coming designer, he is constantly on the lookout for things that can be changed and improved.

The rebirth of the record

With his "Vinyl 2.0" project, he now wants to start off a "small-time revolution". After all, the proof that records can also be made from polylactides, or PLA for short, is just the start. "To be able to use plastics of this kind, machines have to be retrofitted and processes changed," says Alexander. "Vinyl records have been produced for the last 70 years." And at the moment, due to increased demand, production is picking up again and lifting it out of the niche. The record is experiencing a renaissance. Sales of records, which fell to a minimum following the introduction of the CD, have been steadily increasing over the past ten years.

Modifying industrial series production requires courage and will, however, explains Alexander. And the student believes that he has found both of these at a small Hamburg-based records manufacturer by the name of "Ameise". Together with the company’s owner, Martin Sukale, two test runs are underway which have been a success. Alexander has found another partner in the shape of the "R.A.N.D. Muzik" records factory. This Leipzig-based company is supporting his project with technical know-how and equipment. And other things are also happening: the BioEconomy Cluster Halle association has provided scientific advice on materials, and at this year’s state-wide "BESTFORM" competition, from more than 40 submissions, the project made it into the list of nominations. The Stadtmuseum in Halle (Saale) is presenting the project in its permanent exhibition until the end of the year.

The organic record

Alexander – who plays the piano in his spare time – is now seeking further support. His goal is clearly defined: for records made of organic plastics to conquer the market as an alternative to vinyl. To prevent his goal from being a dream and to reduce the reject rate from the initial test series, he wants to try out more plastics and offer more material possibilities. To enable further tests, however, the plastic extruder will have to be retrofitted and the machines given a technical overhaul to allow for the production of new discs – tasks for which the student is currently seeking financial support. "Dedication alone isn’t enough for the project to result in series production," says Alexander. Raising the profile of the organic record helps, however. In Berlin, Alexander is currently holding workshops on how to produce environmentally-friendly discs. The music still plays a secondary role, though. "If the project is a success, I am hoping to find an artist who would then launch their first album on the new record," he says. In his first experiments at the records factory, he had to make do with what was being pressed when he presented his template: French electropop. But for Alexander, it’s what’s in the record that’s really important, and not what’s on it.

Precision Plastic

The potential in the leaves of the beech tree was discovered by Manfred Schäfer. For the shareholder of 3P Präzisions Plastic Produkte GmbH in Staßfurt, innovations have always been part of its professional life. The company produces injection-moulded parts for the automotive industry. With bio-plastics from beech leaves, Schäfer plans to break new and especially sustainable ground. “Our prototypes have 85% leaves content and, in preliminary tests, they showed to have the same great stability as crude oil-based plastics, but they are lighter and have a significantly better carbon footprint”.

3D Printing

Teddy, self-printing brand

With a new design software, children develop and print their own toy made of bio-plastic

When children from 6 years of age create their own playmates with the help of TinkerToys, creativity knows no bounds. The new child-friendly design software allows young designers to convert their game ideas online. The toy is then made a reality with the 3D printer. With this bridge between analogue and digital world, the start-up enhances the digital competence of primary school children. They can experience that the internet provides more opportunities than watching videos and chatting. All TinkerToys creations are also produced from a bio-plastic based on cornflour, and are completely biodegradable.