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The Lithuania Tribune presents an opinion article by Enterprise Lithuania, in which some of Lithuania’s scientific and economic potentials are presented.

When Nobel prize winner Prof. Ada Yonath from the Weizmann Institute of Science addressed 800 participants from 30 countries at the first international conference Life Sciences Baltics held last September in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, it was like a symbolic return to her roots and at the same time a look beyond the horizon.

The Israeli chemist, one of the most famous crystallographers in the world, presented her revolutionary bacteria ribosome research in Lithuania, from where her grandparents came. The venue of the largest conference in the Baltic Region was just a few kilometers from the place where almost 40 years ago the potential of Soviet biotechnological science was concentrated. The host of the conference Lithuania is a country aspiring to become The Next Start-up Nation.

In 1975, the only Applied Enzymology Scientific Research Institute in the Soviet Union was founded in Vilnius. 23 years on since Lithuania regained its independence, the Lithuanian life sciences sector comprises over 130 companies and 47 institutions. Some 80% of their products are exported to over 100 countries of the world. Notwithstanding the economic recession, export volumes have been growing by 17% on average every year in the last five years and amounted to $430 million in 2012.

The rapidly growing life sciences sector in Lithuania is driven by two key trends – a well-established R&D base and an environment favorable for business and investments.

The success of Lithuanian biotechnology industry is attributed to the educational system involving 16 academic institutions and 15 R&D centers, a pool of 18,000 researchers and specialists of life sciences area.

Lithuania with a population of three million is among top EU countries by the percentage of specialists with higher education. Physics and life sciences universities currently have 3,400 students and produce 750 graduates every year.

Having set an ambitious target to become one of the top high tech innovation centers in Europe, Lithuania is investing $535 million into five research valleys and offers particularly favorable tax reliefs for R&D projects. Companies in Lithuania enjoy triple deduction for R&D development costs, in contrast to double deduction applied in most developed countries.

Other favorable tax incentives for investments into R&D include super-accelerated depreciation when the acquisition price of fixed assets used in R&D activities is written-off within two years and the possibility to reduce taxable profits by 50% by investing into substantial technological improvements.

All this helped Lithuania to create one of the fastest growing life sciences industries in the world. Over the last 10 years the annual growth average of the industry was 22%, and now Lithuanian lasers used for scientific research make up 10% of the global market.

Impressive results and vast opportunities attracted the world’s leading players of life sciences industry to Lithuania.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a world leader in serving science, acquired Lithuanian manufacturer of enzymes, reagents and kits for molecular and cellular biology research Fermentas in May 2010 with capital investments reaching $270 million.

In September 2012, Thermo Fisher Scientific opened a new molecular biology center of excellence in Vilnius, Lithuania. The site will enable the company to showcase its capabilities for developing and manufacturing products used in a range of life science applications, providing molecular, protein and cellular biology products to meet customers’ growing demand in Eastern Europe.

Thermo Fisher Scientific is one of several large Western companies, which have recently entered the Lithuanian market through acquisitions.

In 2009, Moog Medical Devices acquired Lithuanian company Viltechmeda, which manufactures, sells, and repairs medical equipment, devices for infusion and syringe pumps. The company announced investing another $5.3 million in 2010 to establish a service center and expand its research and technology brand.

Israeli company TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries, which is the second largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world, acquired Lithuanian biotechnological pharmacy company Sicor Biotech in 2006. Now $30 million of foreign direct investments is being made into the development of a new multifunctional Sicor Biotech/Teva plant, which is expected to come into operation at the end of 2013. TEVA’s biosimilar cancer drug tbo-filgastrim, which won FDA approval in August 2012, is based on a technology developed in Lithuania.

Lithuania is becoming a new hub of biotech activity. The first Life Sciences Baltics conference held last year gave momentum for this activity and Lithuania is already making preparations for a bigger event to be held on 10-12^th of September, 2014 when the second Life Sciences Baltics will take place in Vilnius.

Did you know?

Lithuania has:

• Highest fiber penetration (28%) in Europe (6^th in the world)
• Densest network of public Internet access points in Europe
• World’s fastest download Internet (32,4 Mbps)
• World’s 2^nd fastest upload Internet (24,4 Mbps)

Did you know?

Lithuania-based Neurotechnology developed a face recognition algorithm for Lenovo and products for the US Army.

Did you know?

The method of cutting genes three times quicker than the best previously known method by using enzymes was invented in Lithuania.

Did you know?

IQube 3D scanner, used also by Real Madrid and Liverpool soccer players as well as the Tour de France cyclists, is an innovative product of Lithuanian origin developed using aerospace industry technology.

See full unabridged text here (in English)