Topping-out ceremony of the Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP

Abb. 1 (v.l.n.r.): Volker Bouffier, Mitglied des Fraunhofer ITMP-Kuratoriums und Hessischer Ministerpräsident a.D., Ayse Asar, Staatssekretärin im Hessischen Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Boris Rhein, Hessischer Ministerpräsident, Prof. Gerd Geißlinger, Institutsleiter des Fraunhofer ITMP, Dr. Sandra Krey, Vorständin für Finanzen und Controlling der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Prof. Frank Behrens, stellv. Institutsleiter des Fraunhofer ITMP © Fotograf Jürgen Lecher/Fraunhofer ITMP / Fig. 1 (from left to right): Volker Bouf-fier, Member of the Fraunhofer ITMP Board of Trustees and former Prime Minister of Hesse, Ayse Asar, State Secretary at the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts, Boris Rhein, President of the State of Hesse, Prof. Gerd Geißlinger, Director of the Fraunhofer ITMP, Dr. Sandra Krey, Chief Financial Officer of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Prof. Frank Behrens, Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer ITMP.© Fotograf Jürgen Lecher/Fraunhofer ITMP

The Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP today set an important milestone for the research landscape in Hesse with the ceremonial topping-out of its new building on the Niederrad campus of Goethe University Frankfurt. More than 100 high-ranking representatives of politics, industry and science as well as the trades involved attended the event, including Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhein. He emphasized the importance of the Fraunhofer ITMP for Hessen as a location for science and pharmaceuticals.

"The Fraunhofer ITMP is an exemplary cooperation between science, business and politics. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Goethe University, the federal government and the state of Hesse have delivered a masterpiece for medical research with the new building. The commitment is exemplary of the close cooperation between the players from science, politics and business. On behalf of the entire state government, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the success of the project," said Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein.

The Fraunhofer ITMP is based on the LOEWE Center Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (TMP), which is funded by the state of Hesse. At its five sites in Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Göttingen, Penzberg/Munich and Berlin, innovative approaches to the early detection, diagnosis and therapy of diseases resulting from impaired immune system functions are being researched. In the planned new building, the Fraunhofer ITMP will dedicate itself to the transfer of medical findings into innovative therapies and drugs.

Dr. Sandra Krey, Executive Vice President Finance and Controlling of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, explained: "The health care industry is one of the main pillars of the German and European economy. As an application-oriented research organization with strong interdisciplinary operations, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft plays a central role here. Our goal is to make a significant contribution to the future security of society, technological sovereignty, resilience and - in particular - affordable health for all. The key to this lies in our so-called 4D strategy. This brings together the fields of drugs, devices, diagnostics and data, which have often been developed separately to date, so that Fraunhofer researchers can develop cost-intelligent system solutions for healthcare across disciplines. As one of the leading institutes, the Fraunhofer ITMP makes a significant contribution to this. The decentralized structure of the institute is an excellent basis for the establishment of local health care networks with industry throughout Germany. This interdisciplinary and international exchange is also reflected in the new building for which we are celebrating the topping-out ceremony today. In the future, the three main research areas of the institute will be worked on under one roof: Drug Discovery, Preclinical Research and Clinical Research. The open structure ensures open communication between the individual departments."

In his presentation, Prof. Gerd Geißlinger, Director of the Fraunhofer ITMP, emphasized the importance of translational research and highlighted the synergies that the new building will offer the institute: "Through the transdisciplinary health research made possible by the collaboration of physicians, engineers, scientists and data scientists within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and at the Fraunhofer ITMP, on the one hand patients can quickly benefit from innovations, and on the other hand an important contribution will be made to cost-intelligent health care."

The researchers are scheduled to move into the new Fraunhofer ITMP building in the fourth quarter of 2024.