With approximately 6,000 square meters of laboratory and office space, the Halle/Westphalia site is the heart of Evonik's biotechnology research.

It is home to operational research on biotechnological products and processes of Evonik's Health & Nutrition Business Unit. Research focuses on white biotechnology, i.e. the biotechnological manufacture of products for a wide range of industrial applications. The focus is on the development and optimization of fermentation processes.

Core competencies are molecular biology, bioinformatics, metabolic physiology, biochemistry, bioprocess technology, analysis of intracellular processes and cellular regulation as well as analytics for process control and characterization of fermentation products.

Around 100 employees in Halle/Westphalia develop and optimize the production processes for amino acids such as L-lysine, L-threonine and L-tryptophan, which are used as feed additives in animal nutrition, as well as for other fermentatively produced products. They also work on biotechnological processes for other Evonik business units.

The Halle/Westphalia site is operated by Baxter Oncology GmbH, the German subsidiary of the global pharmaceutical manufacturer Baxter International Inc.