On May 9, 2023, the VORSPRUNG Business Award, an accolade of the East German Business Forum OWF, was presented in Berlin at the Federal Chancellery.
Patron Carsten Schneider, Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany, presented the VORSPRUNG Award for Berlin in the form of a certificate to entrepreneur and Managing Director Alexandra Knauer and Managing Director Carsten Losch. This award was presented for the third time to companies in eastern Germany and Berlin that are considered role models for the future of the economy.
"We are very pleased to receive this recognition and are honored to be seen as a role model and a contributor to the transformation of the economy. At KNAUER, we are committed to seeking new opportunities and operating sustainably. It is great that we have been able to network with the outstanding companies honored today,"
Carsten Losch, KNAUER CEO
An independent jury of experts headed by Matthias Platzeck, former Minister-President of the state of Brandenburg, selects one company per eastern German state as an award winner that combines a high level of innovation and healthy growth and is exemplary for the sustainable transformation of the economy.
KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH, the company awarded for the state of Berlin, is one of the leading German suppliers of scientific instruments and solutions in the field of liquid chromatography (LC). With a 60-year tradition in scientific instrumentation, KNAUER has remained a highly agile company that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, developed at record speed a novel mixing process for mRNA vaccines, enabling the production of billions of Corona vaccine doses in a short period of time.
Carsten Schneider, Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Germany and patron of the VORSPRUNG business award said at the award ceremony that Eastern Germany is one of the most exciting regions of the future in Europe. Particularly with regard to the economy, there is currently a lot going on here, and there are a large number of outstanding innovative products.
The East German Business Forum (OWF) is the most important platform for all topics relating to Eastern Germany as a business location. The aim of the OWF is to highlight the opportunities and challenges of the business location, to connect players from business, politics, and science, and to develop approaches to solutions for the structural change and transformation processes that are shaping the location. The East German Business Forum is a project of the initiative Germany - Land of Ideas.
KNAUER, based in Berlin-Zehlendorf, develops and manufactures laboratory equipment for the life science, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, environmental and food industries. The company is best known for liquid chromatography systems and components but also played a crucial role in the production of lipid nanoparticles for mRNA corona vaccines with its newly developed equipment.
Company owner Alexandra Knauer manages the family business together with Carsten Losch. Both are committed to sustainable and responsible corporate governance with a focus on the users, the 190 employees, and society.