Twincore, Zentrum Fur Experimentelle Und Klinische Infektionsforschung Gmbh

What Twincore, Zentrum Fur Experimentelle Und Klinische Infektionsforschung Gmbh does

TWINCORE (Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung GmbH) is a non-profit translational infection research institute founded in 2008 as a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH), headquartered at Feodor-Lynen-Str. 7 in Hannover, Germany. The institute bridges basic science and clinical application across three core areas — immunology, virology, and bacteriology — organized through seven research labs (Behrendt, Graalmann, Häußler, Kalinke, Pessler, Knegendorf, Lauber) plus the newer Bartsch Lab for Antiviral Antibody-Omics. Its technology stack spans next-generation sequencing, an in-house HEV cell culture system, proprietary glycan-functionalized liposomes (TargoSpheres) for cell-selective antibiotic delivery, multi-omics platforms, and high-performance computing with deep learning workflows for viral sequence analysis.

The institute operates on a grant-funded revenue model with no commercial products. Revenue streams consist of competitive research grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the RESIST Cluster of Excellence (EXC 2155), zukunft.niedersachsen, the VolkswagenStiftung, and other governmental and disease-specific foundations. Notable recent awards include EUR 2.7 million from zukunft.niedersachsen for the PREDICT-CTD precision diagnostics project and EUR 100,000 from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Parkinson und Bewegungsstörungen for the VIN-PD project. Distribution of findings occurs through peer-reviewed publications (Nature Communications, Gut, Science Immunology, Nature Immunology), the annual TWINCORE Symposium, joint industry symposia (notably with SLS Europe in 2025), the CoreNews newsletter, and direct clinical collaboration with MHH departments including Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology, Rheumatology and Immunology, and Pneumology.

Customers and stakeholders are the academic research community, MHH clinicians and partner hospitals, patient populations with infectious and autoimmune diseases, and pharmaceutical industry partners. The institute is governed by Managing Director Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kalinke and Institute Director Prof. Dr. Susanne Häußler, with a management team of principal investigators leading individual labs. TWINCORE does not sell products or services and is not publicly traded; it has no parent company and no external equity investors.

Name

Twincore, Zentrum Fur Experimentelle Und Klinische Infektionsforschung Gmbh

Legal name

Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung GmbH

Website

https://twincore.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

TWINCORE is a non-profit translational infection research institute in Hannover, jointly founded in 2008 by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and Hannover Medical School, conducting immunology, virology, and bacteriology research across seven labs and serving academic, clinical, and pharmaceutical stakeholders via grant-funded programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Translational Infection Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (62151), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAAALAC

Microbiology & Infectious Disease Diagnostics (culture, rapid antigen, syndromic panels)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Biotechnology & Biologics/Diagnostics (Biotech-related)

SECONDARYHLAHAAAC

Microbiology & Infectious Disease Diagnostics (Culture/ID/AST)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Medical Devices & Diagnostics/In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) & Laboratory Diagnostics

SECONDARYHLAJAIAF

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) & Antibiotic Susceptibility Reference Networks

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Public Health Laboratories & Reference Testing Networks

Keywords

• Translational infection research
• Infectious disease research
• Virology research services
• Immunology research services
• Molecular bacteriology research

Headquarters

HQ city

Hannover

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Funding and Grants: TWINCORE receives funding from government sources including German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany's Excellence Strategy, RESIST Cluster of Excellence, and various research grants
2. Project Funding: Major project funding from zukunft.niedersachsen (2.7 million euros for PREDICT-CTD project) and other governmental funding bodies
3. Research Grants: Specialized research grants from organizations such as Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Parkinson und Bewegungsstorungen (100,000 euros for VIN-PD project)

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

TWINCORE conducts translational infection research that bridges basic science and clinical application. It operates multiple research labs across three core areas — immunology, virology, and bacteriology — to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases in humans. Its outputs are research findings, peer-reviewed publications, doctoral training, and specialized technologies (e.g., cell-selective drug delivery, HEV diagnostics, computational virology tools), rather than commercial products or services.

Product overview

Twincore is a research institution (Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung GmbH) focused on translational infection research, serving as a bridge between basic science and clinical application. Founded in 2008 by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and the Hannover Medical School, it does not offer commercial products or services. Its research activities span three core areas (Immunology, Virology, Bacteriology) conducted through multiple research labs including the Behrendt Lab (Translational Virology), Graalmann Lab (Translational Immunology), Häußler Lab (Molecular Bacteriology), Kalinke Lab (Experimental Infection Research), Pessler Lab (Biomarkers for Infectious Diseases), Lauber Lab (Computational Virology), and Knegendorf Lab (Data-driven Clinical Microbiology).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 420,000 estimated Hepatitis E contacts per year in Germany identified and researched
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• SLS EuropemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 September 2025Pharmaceutical company with which TWINCORE co-hosted the Joint Symposium 2025 on September 18-19, bringing together basic researchers and pharmaceutical industry to discuss translation between lab and application.
• Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008TWINCORE was founded in 2008 as a joint institution with HZI, combining expertise in infection research. HZI provides institutional support and research infrastructure. TWINCORE is one of two locations for the Department of Molecular Bacteriology led by Prof. Susanne Hauszler.
• Hannover Medical School (MHH)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008TWINCORE was founded in 2008 as a joint institution with MHH, enabling close clinical collaboration. Research groups work directly with MHH clinics including Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology and Endocrinology, Rheumatology and Immunology, and Pneumology.
• RESIST Cluster of ExcellencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRESIST (Exzellenzcluster 2155) is a German Excellence Strategy initiative that integrates TWINCORE researchers including Chris Lauber, Theresa Graalmann, and others. Provides funding and collaborative framework for infection research.
• INDIRA NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network supporting research on host and viral factors governing HCV and RSV susceptibility, providing additional research collaboration framework.
• Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint institution of HZI and MHH collaborating with TWINCORE on hepatitis research. Provides standardized patient data and samples while TWINCORE contributes experimental models and immunological expertise.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Leibniz Institute for Virology (LIV): Formerly Heinrich Pette Institut, LIV is a major German virology research institute with overlapping interests in viral pathogenesis, immunology, and translational research. It is a comparable national-scale institute with deeper historical focus on virology but less explicit clinical-translational structure.
• Institute Pasteur: Institute Pasteur is a globally recognized French translational infection research center combining basic science, clinical research, and public health. It is a strong international comparator for TWINCORE's bench-to-bedside model and scientific scope.
• Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI): FLI is Germany's federal research institute for animal health, with major programs in viral and bacterial infection research. While focused on veterinary and zoonotic disease, its virology and immunology programs are scientifically adjacent to TWINCORE's translational mission.
• The Francis Crick Institute: The Crick is a large UK biomedical discovery institute with significant infection biology and immunology programs and translational ambition. It is institutionally comparable in operating model as a multi-parent translational research center.
• Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM): BNITM is a Leibniz-affiliated German institute conducting infectious disease research with translational components. It overlaps with TWINCORE in bacteriology, virology, and immunology, though with a stronger tropical medicine focus.
• Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology (formerly MPIIB, now part of MPI for Biology of Ageing–Dementia): The former MPIIB in Berlin was a leading infection biology institute with translational research focus on immunology, bacteriology, and virology. While restructured, it remains a benchmark institutionally comparable to TWINCORE in scale and scientific mission.

Direct peers

• Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI): HZI is the founding parent institution of TWINCORE and operates overlapping infection research programs, particularly in molecular bacteriology and antivirals. It shares governance and infrastructure with TWINCORE and is its closest operational peer in the German research landscape.
• Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM): CiiM is a joint HZI/MHH institution co-located with TWINCORE in Hannover, focused on individualized infection medicine and precision diagnostics. The two institutions share infrastructure, host joint symposia, and have substantially overlapping research scope and patient cohort access.
• Hannover Medical School (MHH): MHH is TWINCORE's other founding parent and the clinical partner providing patient cohorts, clinical samples, and translational interfaces. The two are operationally intertwined, and MHH's infectious disease, hepatology, and immunology clinics are direct counterparts to TWINCORE's research labs.

Emerging players

• Karolinska Institutet – Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology: Karolinska's MTC department conducts translational infection and immunology research in a Nordic academic-medical context. It is comparable in scientific mission though more dispersed and clinically integrated than TWINCORE's focused translational model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Twincore, Zentrum Fur Experimentelle Und Klinische Infektionsforschung Gmbh