The leech farm in Biebertal was founded in 1989. The idea behind it was that people who find it difficult to integrate into the workplace could be trained in key qualifications through learning to deal with a product which reacts sensitively to the way it is handled. In addition, at that time leech breeding was not in danger of competing with commercial enterprises if it was set up as a social project with public funding.
It quickly became clear that leeches were a worthwhile object of scientific curiosity. The few serious research papers available in the world at the time were brought together in Biebertal and the knowledge gleaned from them was bundled.
As sales continued to grow (from around 5,000 leeches per year to around 500,000 today) and the medical benefits of leech therapy, proven by initial studies, were no longer seriously questioned, it quickly became clear that this animal was a real "medicinal product". We therefore had to be prepared for the corresponding official standards being set.
However, standards of this type could only be implemented in a company managed according to economic criteria, which is why the social project became a commercially functioning company in 2008. This has since led to the creation of more than 40 permanent jobs. We believe in workplaces that are tailored to the needs of our employees and which do justice to their great diversity.
