INTERVIEW BioM: You have been managing director of BioM for over a year now. How was your first year? Prof. Dr. Huss: It has certainly been very exciting. Over the past 25 years, during the tenure of my predecessor, a structure and culture has understandably developed at BioM, which was and still is very closely linked to the name Horst Domdey. This applies both within BioM and in the Bavar- ian Biotechnology Cluster, as well as in the external perception of the Bavarian Clus- ter. That’s why it was initially a challenge, and it still is, to understand this “Domdey system”, to naturally make use of it, but also to adapt it in some areas. I had never managed a cluster before; I come from a mixed academic-industrial background with extensive experience in big pharma, start-ups, medium-sized enterprises, and academia, both nationally and interna- tionally. That’s why I tried to maintain an external perspective in my first year while still settling in at the cluster and at BioM. Has anything in particular surprised or challenged you in your new role? BioM and the Bavarian Cluster have, one might say, organically grown over 25 years. One must first understand these structures, which means, for example, the steering committee with colleagues from Munich, Regensburg, and Würzburg. The cluster partners in the entire field of biotechnology, as well as other clusters like industrial biotechnology as an inde- pendent unit, the chemistry cluster, the nanotechnology cluster, and many more. Additionally, there’s also, for example, the Council of German BioRegions, coopera- tion with BIO Deutschland in Berlin, and not least, the interface with the ministries and representatives of the Free State. That was also a new experience. What were the highlights of the past year? impressive. We have appointed new scien- tific experts from all Bavarian universities and non-university research institutions to our advisory board. It’s been around for a while, of course, but it also changes. How- ever, what’s new is that we have expanded it by adding financial experts and investors as well as experienced CEOs, such as Simon Moroney, former CEO of MorphoSys. The last highlight was the annual BioM dinner with many participants and sponsors and the former President of the Robert Koch In- stitute, Lothar Wieler, as the guest speaker. I was very impressed by that. From ChatGPT to AI in medicine. Everyone is talking about AI. Is BioM talking about it too? Of course. But not just because everyone else is doing it, but because we are deeply convinced that data, Artificial Intelligence, and Large Language Models like the fa- mous ChatGPT will dramatically change, accelerate, and hopefully improve bio- technological research and development. We will launch the “AI4Biotech” initiative in the cluster and work on the use of Artificial Intelligence and data in biotechnology and drug development, as well as in the broad- est sense. We will do this with partners. For example, with TUM Venture Labs or Helm- holtz or the other expert panels, but also specifically with regard to the M1 - Munich Medicine Alliance or the Bavarian Highmed Agenda. We really want to do this for the patient and in a patient-centered way, as a kind of syndicate. How much remains analog, how much becomes AI? Like all things, there’s currently a big hype around AI. This will level out, and I believe that in the next four or five years, the pro- portion of AI will be at least equal to the analog components. In some areas more, in others less. There were indeed many exciting mo- ments, but especially the positive evalu- ation of the Bavarian Cluster in the per- ception of the outside world, whether at BIO International Convention in the USA or BIO-Spring in Basel or most recently at BIO-Europe here in Munich, where we had the honor of being local host. That was truly Aside digitization, big data and machine learning, what other current trends and developments do you see in the biotech sector? At BioM, we have decided to conduct two cross-cluster projects this year. One involves the AI agency, and the other is with the Cluster of Nanotechnology. These projects focus on mutual support and the expansion of each other’s technologies. The role of the AI agency is quite obvious. With the Nanotechnology Cluster, we aim to develop the field of nanobiotechnology. At the same time, we will perform a tech- nology impact assessment on the use of AI and data in biotechnology to be able to make a neutral estimation. Additionally, we will increasingly engage with the inte- gration of traditional deep tech solutions and other innovative approaches. I don’t know whether quantum computers will really play a role in this. I doubt it for the time being. How do you see the future of Bavarian biotechnology in general? It is, of course, my duty to look optimis- tically into the future. My very personal opinion indeed: I believe that our current position is truly excellent. We are aware of the increasing competition from other na- tional and international clusters, but with the increasing consolidation of resources and capacities in and around Munich, and of course, throughout Bavaria, such as the already mentioned M1 - Munich Medicine Alliance, or the “Pandemic Preparedness” program, including the pharmaceutical giant Roche, will significantly accelerate the development of the Bavarian pharma initiative or biotechnology. However, we cannot address all topics, that is obvious, including what is being done globally. We undoubtedly have excellent focal points here, such as the future cluster of nucleic acid-based therapies and, of course, AI and the utilization of health data. What does this mean in a national and international comparison? Will Bavaria remain at the top of the biotech industry? Certainly, that’s a clear yes. We, of course, do not want to lose, but nationally and internationally, we must and will position ourselves accordingly so that we can secure particularly sustainable transnational fund- ing through targeted investments in this area. This means that, alongside promoting research in general, we need market-ori- entated translation, meaning we need to understand what the market needs. Where is it heading? What products can we sell in BIOTECH IN BAVARIA - REPORT 2023|24 17