HAMBURG, Germany - To meet the growing demand of marketing and information services of the biotech industry, BioGeneCommunications, a specialized agency for marketing, communication and consulting, was formed in Germany.

The new company, located in Eckental near Nuremberg, is a division of the German marketing and communications group Flad & Flad founded two decades ago.

"We are the first German agency with a full service in marketing, communication and consulting in the biotech field," Andreas Jungbluth, vice president science of BioGeneCommunications, told BioWorld International. "We offer the development of corporate concepts as well as planning, realization and controlling of product marketing and communication strategies and public relations work including organization of events, congresses, etc."

An information service offers know-how support in the biotech field including a telephone hotline, partnering and networking services, info brokerage and the imparting of competence for speeches, workshops and discussions. "We have expertise not only in science matters, but in safety, legal, and ethical aspects as well," Jungbluth added.

Jungbluth developed and managed the "BioTech mobile" information campaign initiated by the German Federal Research Ministry and the Bavarian State government in 1997. To inform about biotechnology the campaign organized several hundred discussions, events and exhibitions and set up a lab in a truck that approached several hundred schools in Germany and Switzerland.

"From this campaign we have learned a lot about the interdependence of technology acceptance, marketing and consumer behavior in this sometimes controversial area," Jungbluth said. "Besides, our team consists of several scientists holding a doctor's degree and marketing experts. As a division of Flad & Flad, we have many years of experience in regard to technology transfer and managing of innovation especially in the high-tech area."