Biotech funding consultant for companies across the EU

Yes, we work with biotech companies across the EU. Without a German entity, the main routes are the EIC Accelerator and Horizon Europe, which are open to companies established in an EU member state or an associated country, and Eurostars, led by an innovative SME from a participating country. German national programmes come into play once you have a permanent establishment or branch in Germany.

The EIC Accelerator, Eurostars and Horizon Europe are the three to check first. The EIC Accelerator funds a single startup or SME with a grant below €2.5M, covering 70% of eligible costs, and optional equity of €1M to €10M. Eurostars funds international R&D projects led by an innovative SME. Horizon Europe funds consortia under Cluster 1 (Health) and Cluster 6. National funding can come on top, as long as the same costs are never funded twice.

Yes, if it is taxable in Germany, typically through a German subsidiary or a permanent establishment. The tax authorities treat taxpayers with unlimited and with limited tax liability as eligible, so a foreign company with a German permanent establishment can claim. The allowance is 25% of eligible R&D costs, 35% for SMEs, credited against German tax. Contract research counts only if the contractor is managed in the EU, or in an EEA state that provides administrative assistance in tax matters.

Usually yes, if it resolves open scientific or technical questions. Assay development, strain engineering, lead optimisation and preclinical studies can count under the Research Allowance. KMU-innovativ: Biomedizin funds drug development from preclinical work onwards, and KMU-innovativ: Bioökonomie funds industrial biotech research. Routine quality control and standard analytics do not count. We help you draw that line in the project description.

It depends on the programme and the product. For medicinal products, BSFZ guidance on the Research Allowance generally excludes Phase IIIb and Phase IV trials, with narrow exceptions, and observational studies; earlier phases are assessed project by project. KMU-innovativ: Biomedizin funds clinical trials up to and including Phase IIa. Horizon Europe funds clinical trials where a Cluster 1 topic asks for them. Medical devices follow different rules, see healthcare funding.

Biomedizin if you develop medicines, Bioökonomie if you work in industrial biotech. KMU-innovativ: Biomedizin funds SMEs in red biotech that develop drugs, such as small molecules, advanced therapies and vaccines, plus companion diagnostics developed with a new drug. KMU-innovativ: Bioökonomie funds bio-based processes and products, from bioprocess engineering and biorefineries to metabolic engineering. In-vitro diagnostics belong to KMU-innovativ: Medizintechnik. Each field needs a site in Germany at payout and starts with a project outline.

Yes, within each programme's limits. Under the Research Allowance, contract research counts at 70% of the fee for contracts placed after 27 March 2024 (60% before), but only if the contractor is managed in the EU, or in an EEA state that provides administrative assistance in tax matters, so a CRO outside Europe does not count. Under KMU-innovativ: Biomedizin, external service providers may take at most 50% of the grant of each sub-project. Universities and research institutes can also join as funded project partners.

For the Research Allowance, yes: depreciation on equipment such as bioreactors, sequencers and analytical instruments can be included. The asset must be movable, acquired or produced after 27 March 2024, used exclusively in the R&D project and necessary for it. Low-value assets written off immediately do not count, and the certifying body (BSFZ) confirms each asset. Grant programmes such as KMU-innovativ set their own rules on equipment.

Yes, several programmes are built for that stage. The Research Allowance is paid out even when the company makes a loss: whatever exceeds your tax bill is refunded. The EIC Accelerator accepts startups, and even founders who will set up the company before the grant agreement is signed. Founders still at a German university or research institute can start with EXIST.

Yes, from investment programmes rather than R&D funding. In Germany, GRW funds new or expanded production sites in eligible regions, and KfW innovation loans finance innovation projects; both are applied for before you start. BAFA EEW funds energy efficiency in your own production. The EU Innovation Fund supports first commercial plants whose products replace carbon-intensive ones. None of these pays for lab R&D.

For the Research Allowance our fee is purely success-based: 10% of the funding up to €500k per year and 5% above that, due only after payout. For all other programmes the fee is a fixed share plus a success component, both agreed in advance. The first eligibility check is free and comes with no obligation.