The Future of Health

Switzerland is a hub for the Health and Life Science industry due to a highly developed ecosystem backed by a skilled talent pool and highly supportive framework conditions: consider Switzerland when it comes to your European Headquarter.

20 percent of European Life Science companies have already chosen Switzerland as their HQ location. Are you next? Switzerland’s strategic location in the center of Europe, combined with the consolidation of the entire value chain in a single place, attracts international biotechnology firms to establish their presence here. Get in touch to learn more about the cornerstones of Switzerland's health ecosystem, rooted in strong research, the availability of specialized PhD professionals and lab technicians, and progressive regulatory conditions.

The Future of Health

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#WhySwitzerland

#WhySwitzerland

Ecosystem

Develop partnerships to scale your business

The Swiss life science ecosystem is made up of innovative start-ups and multinational giants such as Roche, Novartis, Bayer, Abbott, Merck, Biogen, CSL Behring, Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, Hamilton, and Medtronic. These companies benefit from Switzerland’s experienced cluster along the entire value chain to develop, produce and market new products and services - from drug discovery to commercialization, all in one place.
If you are looking to set up supply chain and other headquarter functions, Switzerland provides excellent infrastructure and solutions for managing revenues and risks. 
 

Regulatory

Enjoy a safe and innovative legal framework

Considering European expansion? Life Science companies favor Switzerland as a headquarter location for many reasons. Its central location, various trade agreements and progressive regulations make it easy for companies to tap into the European market, made up of almost 500 million consumers. A business-friendly environment and competitive corporate and personal tax rates provide further advantages for setting up headquarter functions in Switzerland. 

20% of European Life Science companies have already chosen Switzerland as their HQ location, representing over 90 companies with active clinical trials. Life Science companies that already settled in Switzerland include Bluebird Bio, Roivant Sciences, BeiGene, Alnylam, Incyte, Biogen, Moderna, Luye Pharma, Align Technology, and Amgen.
 

Innovation

Collaborate pragmatically with leading research institutes

Switzerland’s pragmatic collaboration between science and industry can help your company expedite the journey of your product to market. In a 2021 analysis of product pipelines by Biotechgate, Switzerland has the strongest product pipeline in Europe, after the UK. 

Switzerland boasts an impressive investment in R&D, with pharmaceutical companies alone investing 9 billion Swiss francs in 2020. Ranked among the top countries for R&D expenditure relative to GDP, Switzerland sees private enterprises contributing a substantial two-thirds of the investment. 

14 Swiss companies are ranked among the top 500 companies worldwide in terms of corporate research spending, with Roche ranked in 8th position and Novartis in 14th position.

Learn how your company can benefit from Switzerland’s unique focus on applied science.

Talent

Attract and retain the best people

Benefit from Switzerland’s talent pool - because it’s vast! Switzerland is a hub for PhD professionals in Life Sciences and related disciplines, with its top-ranking universities attracting diverse doctoral talent. Switzerland provides a rich talent pool for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical technology and digital health. 

Switzerland's excellent quality of life, favorable tax policies and flexible work arrangements make it an attractive destination for C-level executives. Its renowned apprenticeship system ensures well-trained lab technicians or QC analysts with practical skills for the highly regulated life sciences sector and biologics manufacturing processes.

Find out more about talent in the Swiss health industry. 

#SwissTech4Good

#SwissTech4Good

Use resources responsibly to meet current needs without jeopardizing those of future generations: this is how start-ups, scale-ups and corporations approach sustainability in Switzerland. We would like to show Switzerland’s impact in sustainability with the following example in this Ecosystem: The Fribourg-based biopharmaceutical company has invested more than 600 million Swiss francs in a state-of-the-art facility and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Find out more
Success Stories

Success Stories Medical Technology

Personalized Health

How BeiGene drives global cancer treatment access

From its European headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, BeiGene strategically collaborates with stakeholders worldwide to advance oncology research and development. It is commercially present in 40 countries and runs its clinical trials in over 45 countries. Switzerland Global Enterprise talks with Gerwin Winter and Jan-Henrik Terwey of BeiGene about the company’s global mission of making cancer treatments more accessible and affordable.

Other topics

Yokogawa Innovation Switzerland: How microalgae open up new possibilities for food and medicine. 

Microalgae open up new possibilities for food and medicine. From its base in Switzerland, the mission of YIS is to find promising biotechnology fields and work on research activities with members in Europe, Japan, India, and other countries to develop new biobusiness areas. 

Personalized Health

CSL Behring: “The deciding factors were time to market and the proven track record of the Bern site.”

For over a century, CSL Behring (CSLB) has kept its founding promise to help patients suffering from rare and serious diseases. It specializes in the manufacture of medications for treating immune deficiencies and disorders of the immune function, as well as medications for rhesus prophylaxis and albumin solutions for shock and burn victims. In the interview with us, Martin Schären, Senior VP and General Manager of CSL Behring AG in Bern, explains how the company continues to innovate and deliver life-saving medicines.

Advanced Manufacturing

Merck : “Switzerland offers attractive and stable conditions for international companies.“

Science and technology leader Merck has been in Switzerland for almost a century. Today it has eight sites, including five manufacturing facilities, and in the last two years the company has invested a further EURO 418 million in new production capacity. Christiane von der Eltz, General Manager and Managing Director at Merck Switzerland AG, talks with us about why Merck regards Switzerland as a strong, strategic, and ever more attractive location for biotech.

Advanced Manufacturing

European Headquarters and Tech Hub in Rotkreuz

Align Technology is a leading medical device company in the dental industry with headquarters in California and over 17,000 employees worldwide. It has set the bar for leadership and change in dental industry by constantly innovating to bring new and better solutions to doctors and their patients. To further expand and develop their products, the company moved its regional headquarters from Amsterdam to Rotkreuz. The new office with over 150 employees opened in January 2020 and will also serve as R&D hub.

Personalized Health

Switzerland is an interesting playground for IBM to develop artificial intelligence

This year's Swiss Biotech Report by the Swiss Biotech Association outlines a new decade - a decade in which Switzerland can rely on a comprehensive life science ecosystem and where biotech companies can thrive. Head of IBM Life Sciences Switzerland, Axel Nemetz, talks to Switzerland Global Enterprise about AI in Life Sciences and why Switzerland is the perfect place to be.

Settlements

Roivant Sciences: Reinventing what a large pharma company of the future might look like

Roivant Sciences was founded in New York by a young investor and entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy. In 2016, the company opened its global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Sascha Bucher, Head Basel Roivant Pharma and Head of Global Transactions, talks with Switzerland Global Enterprise about his company’s game-changing business model and why Basel is the perfect place to be.

 

Settlements

“Switzerland has a good microclimate for life science companies”

Hamilton is a global high-tech medical and sensor technology company that currently employs around 1.200 staff members. Its European headquarters and main production facility are in a place where others go on holiday: surrounded by mountains in the canton of Grisons.

Success Stories Biopharma

Success Stories Biopharma

Personalized Health

CSL Behring: “The deciding factors were time to market and the proven track record of the Bern site.”

For over a century, CSL Behring (CSLB) has kept its founding promise to help patients suffering from rare and serious diseases. It specializes in the manufacture of medications for treating immune deficiencies and disorders of the immune function, as well as medications for rhesus prophylaxis and albumin solutions for shock and burn victims. In the interview with us, Martin Schären, Senior VP and General Manager of CSL Behring AG in Bern, explains how the company continues to innovate and deliver life-saving medicines.

Advanced Manufacturing

Merck : “Switzerland offers attractive and stable conditions for international companies.“

Science and technology leader Merck has been in Switzerland for almost a century. Today it has eight sites, including five manufacturing facilities, and in the last two years the company has invested a further EURO 418 million in new production capacity. Christiane von der Eltz, General Manager and Managing Director at Merck Switzerland AG, talks with us about why Merck regards Switzerland as a strong, strategic, and ever more attractive location for biotech.

Settlements

Roivant Sciences: Reinventing what a large pharma company of the future might look like

Roivant Sciences was founded in New York by a young investor and entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy. In 2016, the company opened its global headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Sascha Bucher, Head Basel Roivant Pharma and Head of Global Transactions, talks with Switzerland Global Enterprise about his company’s game-changing business model and why Basel is the perfect place to be.

 

Settlements

“Davos is very well connected in the world.”

The internationally renowned AO Research Institute is located in Davos, in the Canton of Grisons. Professor Geoff Richards, Director of AO Research Institute talks about the unique advantages of doing research in a multinational village in the Swiss mountains.

Chemical and Pharmaceutical

Roivant Sciences establishes global headquarters in Basel

The biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences has opened its global headquarters in Basel. Several of its affiliates have also moved to Basel. The city is a hub for pharmaceutical innovation and talent.

Life Sciences

The Luye Life Sciences Group establishes its European headquarters in Basel

With its own product pipeline and several subsidiaries abroad, Luye Pharma is a pioneer in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry. The new European headquarters in Basel will enable Luye Pharma to strengthen its existing investment platform and further expand into the European market.

Chemical and Pharmaceutical

An inspiring entry point to Europe

At the end of 2013, Radar Swiss Sarl, a research and production center from Kazan, opened a trade office in Lausanne, the canton of Vaud. For 25 years, the company has been involved in organizing powder coating processes in Russia.

Chemical and Pharmaceutical

Suisselle Sarl: With an eye to the whole world

Suisselle is engaged in the production of fillers and injections for mesotherapy, which are used in beauty medicine and therapeutic cosmetology. In 2011, a decision was made to establish an international office to expand business worldwide.

Ecosystem Switzerland

Ecosystem Switzerland

The Swiss Biotech Association

The Swiss Biotech Association represents the interests of the Swiss biotech industry. Every new member helps to increase their impact and credibility. To support their members in a competitive market, they work to secure favorable framework conditions and facilitate access to talents, novel technologies and financial resources. At the same time, they provide platforms to connect and promote the biotech stakeholders.

Swiss Medtech

Swiss Medtech is the association of Swiss medical technology. They represent more than 750 companies. With 11.5% of Switzerland's positive trade balance, more than 67,500 employees and the most patents per inhabitant across Europe, the Swiss medical technology industry is of great economic importance. They are committed to an environment in which medical technology can deliver top performance for the benefit of first-class medical care.

Swiss Healthcare Startups

Swiss Healthcare Startups is a non profit organisation that supports innovative startups that aim to add value to the Swiss healthcare ecosystem. We support the startups by providing meaningful exposure and facilitating access to relevant stakeholders. As a neutral platform, we promote dialogue, networking and exchange throughout our ecosystem.

Swissmedic

Swissmedic is the Swiss authority for the licensing and monitoring of therapeutic products. It performs the mandate conferred upon it by law and works with partner authorities at home and abroad.
The authority ensures that the therapeutic products it approves are of faultless quality, effective and safe. In doing so it makes a significant contribution to safeguarding human and animal health and to maintaining Switzerland's role as a location for business and research.
 

Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area

The Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area is one of five sites in Switzerland Innovation’s network of science parks. At its four sites Allschwil, Basel, and Novartis Campus in Basel, the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area offers a total usable space of 9,432 m2.  It connects and supports people with ideas and passion, gives them access to an innovative and cutting-edge infrastructure as well as a broad set of services so that they can focus on inventing, researching and shaping their future. There are currently about 510 people working at 74 companies and 12 research groups in the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area, which is managed by Basel Area Business & Innovation.

We have ve compiled information for your convenience, offering guidance on international expansion and selecting the ideal business location. Explore our comprehensive guide on the five essential areas: 
Access to Ecosystem • Open Your HQ  • Find Talent • Benefit from R&D • Locate Investors

Location Factors
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