Biotech

The European Commission claims that the biotechnology industry will become the main engine of the European economic growth in the first decades of the 21st century. According to Ernst & Young, the Lithuanian biotechnology market is one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, and Lithuanian biotechnology companies hold immense future development prospects.

Although the Lithuanian biotechnology sector is not large in terms of the number of companies, experts with top-level qualifications are employed and the state-of-the-art equipment acquired by the companies ensure their competitiveness on the global scientific products market. Today Lithuanian biotech companies export their products to 86 countries. Lithuanian products do not have equivalents in Central and Eastern Europe and, thus, all the conditions are in place for further development of biotechnology research and its effective use in increasing the competitiveness of Lithuania’s industry.

Four biotech companies - SICOR Biotech (development and production of protein-based pharmaceuticals), Fermentas (biological products for genetic engineering, molecular biology, and medical diagnostics), Biocentras (the use of micro-organisms to remove pollution), and Biok (manufacture of cosmetic products) make the core of the Lithuanian biotechnology sector.

There are also quite a few public research centres working in the area of biotechnology. Lithuanian biotechnology research centres have accumulated a great intellectual potential and achieved good results in the chemical and biochemical research of protein, enzymes and nucleic acid for pharmaceutical application, as well as the molecular biology research of prokaryote and eukaryote cells. Lithuanian biotech research centres also prepare high-quality specialists in cooperation with domestic and foreign companies and academic institutions.

The construction and establishment of the first Baltic medical and pharmaceutical valley was started in the capital city Vilnius in 2007. The Santariškės-Visoriai valley will bring together the best pharmaceutical companies (e.g. Sicor Biotech), scientists, researchers and educational institutions in this sphere to do common research to create new medicines, new diagnostic methods and means to more effectively cure diseases. 700 scientists and researchers are already working in the area of the future valley.

Lithuania’s biotech sector branches:

• biotechnological products intended for fundamental research;
  
• biopharmaceutical products;
  
• biotechnological products intended for environmental protection;
  
• biotechnological products intended for animal feed.

Please find a study (in pdf) on the Biotech industry’s prospects prepared by the LDA analyst group.

For more information on the sector please see Lithuania’s Institute of Biotechnology website www.ibt.lt