The end of the GDR was also the end for many big factories in the town like Maschinenfabrik and the chemical factories in Buna and Leuna. Many jobs were destroyed. Therefore a new orientation of the city's industry was needed.
Here you can see the result of this reorientation. It is a science park for biotechnology called Biotechnologiezentrum. Many start-ups and other small companies are working here on high-tech areas like biotechnology, pharmacy and human medicin.