Poland is one of the few places in Europe, which offer investors a safe haven in the time of crisis. Data concerning GDP for the first quarter of 2009 not only proves that Poland managed to avoid a recession, but also shows that the Polish economy has been growing. Paradoxically, Poles were helped by the global economic crisis.
According to Eurostat, Poland is one of the only two European countries which recorded growth of the Gross Domestic Product - by 1.9% year-on-year. Experts from the Polish Central Statistical Office claim it was the interior demand that exerted the greatest influence on the growth of GDP in Poland. The 38-million-strong nation forms a large, well-developed market where a significant amount of goods and services generated in Poland may be sold.
Due to the country's economic and political stability as well as public aid to investors, Poland has been continuously attracting projects from sectors generating the greatest value added, like the electronics, aviation and renewable energy sectors. The extremely dynamic development of modern BPO centres became, in the recent years, one of the major elements constituting the growing competitiveness of the Polish economy.
Why Invest in the Polish Biotechnology Sector?
There is an enormous and yet untapped potential in the Polish biotechnology sector and though the country's industry is concerned chiefly with the presentation and distribution of imported finished goods, many indicators show that this is beginning to change. The industry stands a very good chance of being much more independent in the future. The most significant factor is the highly educated body of young scientists emerging from Polish universities of technology.
Poland supports activities whose goal is to improve the state of the natural environment, which is why it favours replacing traditional industrial processes with bioprocesses. The country is optimistic about the development of bio-substances (e.g. bio-degradable plastics) and bio-fuels that are meant to replace coal and particularly crude oil.
Today, in Poland several particularly valuable substances are being produced, such as: hormones, cloned antibodies and diagnostic tests, all generated with the use of modern genetic engineering techniques. However, no genetic therapy has as yet progressed beyond the stage of clinical testing, and social expectations in this field are great.
Biotechnology has a long tradition in Poland. The first research-development centre in Poland conducting agricultural studies was formed in 1862 in Puławy (Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture and Forestry which still exists today as the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation). Poland's biotechnology sector translates into numerous companies, 8,000 biotech students and 1,300 graduates a year, 36 universities teaching biotechnology (and its related disciplines), with 30 of them offering PhD's in the field.
As biotechnology is a priority sector in the Polish economy, the government supports new investments in the sector. Investment incentives, including government grants and EU funds, are available. Just within the Innovative Economy Operational Program there is almost €10 million tagged for the period 2007-2013.
Biotech Companies In Poland
Among all biotech companies in Poland over 30 are diagnostic enterprises responsible for R&D, implementation of services in pharmaceutical products, food and cosmetics control. The estimated market value is $100 million.
Almost half of all biotech researchers and companies deal with red biotech, which finds application in medicine. The Polish company Bioton has currently been working on new technologies regarding growth hormones and an alpha and gamma interferon. Bioton is known for its flagship project - Gensulin - which is human recombined insulin with 99 % purity. The company has entered into the Chinese market with this product, in co-operation with the German company Bayer.
The second popular branch of biotechnology in Poland is white biotech, also known as industrial biotechnology e.g. the production of enzymes used in the food, textile or the detergent industry. It is in this section of the industry that investors can find a suitable niche because the only Polish producer active in the field only manages to cover 3 % of the domestic demand. Another uncovered field of white biotech industry in Poland includes clean, renewable energy i.e. bio-diesel, bioethanol or biohydrogen. At the moment production level is insufficient and intensification of research is highly required.
15% of Polish biotechnology is green biotech, applied to agricultural processes. An example would be transgenetic animals to deliver human, recombined peptides e.g. production of growth hormone - rabbits at Agricultural University in Pozna´n or genetically modified pigs for organ transplantation.
Expected Biotech Development in Poland
The fastest development in Polish biotech is expected to be observed in the field of biopharmacology with the improvement of the manufacturing processes of human proteins and peptides based on E.coli and cell cultures.
Undoubtedly there is still a considerable scope for exploitation of the untapped potential in the section of vaccines, protein drugs, diagnostic tests and reagents. Among other potential blockbusters in the sector there is insulin, erythropoietin, interferons and monoclonal antibodies.
The Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency
The aim of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIIIZ) is to help investors enter the Polish market. PAIIIZ guides investors through all the essential administrative and legal procedures, offers sectoral knowledge of dedicated project managers, provides information on investment incentives and helps to find appropriate partners and suppliers as well as investment locations.
The word "crisis" comes from ancient Greek and means choice, decision. Hence, apart from threats, a crisis also poses chances. In the era of the present global economic tremors, it is worth taking a closer look at Poland and seizing the chances that it offers.
