From Sachertorte to leading life sciences quarter: Vienna has it all this fall at BIO-Europe

The quintessential Viennese afternoon deliciousness is a towering slice of “Sachertorte”. This is a world-class chocolate sponge cake, rightly celebrated as the Queen of the Viennese baker’s art. Apprentice chef Franz Sacher created this culinary treasure in the summer of 1832 in the palace kitchens of Prince Metternich. Much like Vienna’s life-sciences cluster, it’s well worth taking time to savour, which you can do in person at BIO-Europe this November 3-5, 2025, Europe’s largest partnering event. So, let’s take a brief waltz through Vienna’s wonderful life-sciences ecosystem, which has long-standing strengths in many core biotech and medtech areas including vaccines, immunology and disease diagnostics.

A great cake needs a great centre, and in Sachertorte that’s an apricot, or sometimes cherry, jam. Similarly, the Vienna BioCenter magnificently holds the cluster together, bringing together research, education and companies. It is a top biology research institute with a heritage of innovation excellence stretching far back into the last millennium, including being the inventors of CRISPR/Cas9 technology and the in vitro cultivation of 3D brain-like structures, called cerebral organoids. There, six research institutions, with over 2,000 scientists from over 80 countries, and over 40 biotech companies, are busy laying the groundwork for future solutions to global health problems. These include the metabolic disorder, obesity, of which we’d best say no more about in a piece that starts the next section with a potentially gluttony-inducing title.

One slice or three?

Good cake is best with good coffee, and in good company. Vienna’s coffee-house culture has long been at the intellectual heart of the city, where people meet, all through the day, and late into the night, for discussion, writing, and the exchange of ideas. It is probably one of the finest breeding grounds for innovation ever developed. So fine in fact, that it is listed as a part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, where the coffee house is described as a place, “where time and space are consumed, but only the coffee is found on the bill.” As in biology, nomenclature is important: Remember when ordering your cake accompaniment, that a melange is approximately a cappuccino, while an Einspänner may look deceptively like a hot chocolate but is actually an espresso topped with lashings of whipped cream.

Vienna’s vibrant Kaffeehauskultur is something you simply must experience for yourself, as it is a part of the city’s fabric, integral to the exceptional quality of life in Austria’s capital. Allow yourself a cultural moment to consume time and space in one of the city’s many grand coffee houses, with names to savour such as Demel, Landtmann, Schwarzenberg, Prückel, and, of course, the Sacher Café. Who knows where some fresh coffee, a fresh slice of cake, perhaps three (try a Linzertorte, and some Apfelstrudel, after your Sachertorte), and some fresh thinking will take you, your career, and your lifesciences business.

The wine is fine too

Dig a little under the glistening chocolate icing and you’ll find more to enchant you about the city’s life sciences heritage. Did you know Vienna is the only capital city in Europe that has vineyards within the city limits? The locals have been fermenting high quality products for centuries. That’s one reason there’s such a strong biotech base in Austria as biological manufacturing expertise has been passed down through generations, harnessed first in producing world-class wine (try a Zweigelt or Blaufränkisch if you like red, or a Grüner Veltliner or Welschriesling for white), to producing block-buster biotech drugs by pharma giants like Boehringer Ingelheim and Takeda, who set up shop over 70 years ago in Vienna, to expand their global network.

Since then, the Vienna region has become home to each of the 20 largest global pharma, biotech and medical device companies, which is no mean feat for anywhere in the world. And it’s not by accident. Just as creating a great cake takes commitment and culinary flair, creating a great cluster is the result of a forward-thinking strategy dating back to the 1990s, like a trusted recipe handed down from grandma, and consistent investment in growth, making life sciences a key innovation driver from digitalization and smart manufacturing to ground breaking therapies.

Cake, music, or art?

Classical music is also at the heart of Vienna’s cultural life, and the ability to orchestrate something magical is highly visible in this European life sciences cluster. The 2024 launch of the AI biomedical research institute AITHYRA, with its delicious tag line, ‘where magic happens’, is another cherry-on-the cake demonstrating the city’s phenomenal international appeal.

And, finally, Vienna is famous for its art. Some say that Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss is Vienna’s greatest work of art. Do see that, it is a masterpiece of the Vienna Secession movement, but make your own informed decision about whether that iconic painting, rich in black & gold, or the Sachertorte, rich in chocolate & cream, should claim that heady accolade.

Register now to attend BIO-Europe this November, where partnering becomes the science of connection (especially over cake & coffee).

For more about Vienna’s life sciences scene, check out LISAvienna’s 2024/5 report, produced by the cluster platform that has been supporting the community with expert guidance and strategic networking for over 20 years.

To work off some calories before committing yourself whole-heartedly to Vienna’s cake scene, the BiotechBikers have a ride on Sunday, November 2 starting 10:30.

With thanks to Vienna’s Christian Soschner for the idea that inspired this feature. Check-in on Christian’s Beginner’s Mind podcast over coffee & cake. Spoilers: You’re going to need a bigger slice.