The coronavirus pandemic provided the decisive impetus: In 2022, a Bavarian branch of the young Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology (ITMP) was launched in rented laboratory space at the Penzberg Biotechnology Center of the pharmaceutical company Roche. The aim is to identify and characterize pandemic pathogens, develop new diagnostics and therapies and investigate the role of the immune system in infectious diseases in more detail. Construction work is now beginning on the institute's own building in the immediate vicinity of the Penzberg campus. The ITMP site Immunology, Infection and Pandemic Research IIP also has laboratories in Munich-Großhadern, in the immediate vicinity of the LMU Hospital and important life sciences institutes.

For Michael Hoelscher, Professor of Global Health & Infectious Diseases at LMU and Director of the Tropical Institute at LMU Klinikum, this constellation offers the best opportunities for the transfer of results from LMU research and the chance for a "perfect circle of innovation": "The basic technologies are developed in the LMU laboratories, the Fraunhofer specialists work with industry to turn them into products for diagnostics and therapy, which are evaluated and implemented in clinical trials at LMU Klinikum."

Hoelscher uses an example to outline how cooperation can work and lead to synergetic translational success: the Fraunhofer Institute's task is to find practical technical solutions, especially diagnostic methods, in order to respond better in pandemic cases or infectiological emergency situations. As a member institution of the German Center for Infection Research, the LMU Klinikum is now part of the European vaccine hub, which aims to develop innovative vaccines, for example against a possible new flu epidemic caused by the H5N1 avian flu pathogen. At the Fraunhofer Institute, the scientists now want to develop corresponding diagnostics in parallel that are tailored to the flu vaccines. "If we do this in cooperation with Roche, we can adapt the development to the company's production platform. In the event of a pandemic, Roche can adopt the diagnostics one-to-one and produce them quickly in large quantities."

Hoelscher speaks of a "perfect match": many of the innovations come from LMU and the LMU Hospital, and the Tropical Institute at the hospital is "one of the three largest international clinical trial units in Europe. We organize international clinical trials worldwide and have around 45 partners around the world. The studies deal with diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV - and aim to accelerate the development of diagnostics, vaccines and medicines."