Life sciences industry in Switzerland

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The life sciences industry in Switzerland directly and indirectly employs about 135,000 people.[1] It contributes 5.7% of the gross domestic product of Switzerland and 30% of the country's exports.[1] In 2017 about 30% of Swiss exports (worth $84.8 billion) were chemical products.[2] In the same year Switzerland was the second largest exporter of packaged medicine in the world, with about 11% of the global total, worth $36.5 billion.[3]

One of the many buildings of Novartis in Basel
The headquarters of Roche Diagnostics in Rotkreuz, Switzerland
The headquarters of Actelion in Allschwil

Switzerland is home to many pharmaceutical companies, including very large groups, such as Novartis and Hoffmann-La Roche. In 2013, 41 life science companies had their international headquarters (and 29 more their regional headquarters) in Switzerland.[4][5]

History

Companies

A number of life sciences companies are either headquartered in Switzerland or maintain regional headquarters in Switzerland:

More information Company, Location ...
CompanyLocationCantonDivisions
Abbott LaboratoriesBasel Basel-StadtEstablished Pharmaceuticals Division
AC ImmuneLausanne VaudGlobal headquarters
AccurayMorges, VaudInternational headquarters
Acino HoldingZürich ZürichGlobal headquarters
Actelion, (Johnson & Johnson)Allschwil Basel-LandschaftGlobal headquarters
AlconGeneva GenevaGlobal headquarters
Alexion PharmaceuticalsBaar ZugInternational headquarters
AmgenRotkreuz ZugEuropean hub
AstraZenecaBaar ZugInternational headquarters
BachemBubendorf Basel-LandschaftGlobal headquarters
Basilea PharmaceuticaAllschwil Basel-LandschaftGlobal headquarters
Baxter InternationalZürich ZürichEuropean headquarters
BayerBasel Basel-StadtConsumer Health Division, Hemophilia & Ophthalmology Pharma Global HQ Divisions with some Oncology
Beckman CoulterNyon VaudEuropean and emerging markets headquarters
Becton DickinsonEysins VaudEuropean headquarters
Bio-RadBasel Basel-StadtEuropean headquarters
BiogenBaar ZugInternational headquarters
BiognosysSchlieren ZürichGlobal headquarters
Bristol Myers SquibbBoudry NeuchâtelVarious global functions and global product supply Functions
Caris Life SciencesBasel Basel-StadtEuropean headquarters
Cerbios-PharmaLugano TicinoGlobal headquarters
Cochlear LimitedBasel Basel-StadtEuropean headquarters
DebiopharmLausanne VaudGlobal headquarters
Edwards LifesciencesNyon VaudEuropean headquarters
Exact SciencesBaar ZugInternational headquarters
Ferring PharmaceuticalsSaint-Prex VaudPharmaceutical manufacturing site
Finox BiotechKirchberg BernGlobal headquarters
GaldermaZug ZugGlobal headquarters
GalenicaBern BernGlobal headquarters
GenedataBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
GlaxoSmithKlineMünchenbuchsee BernLocal headquarters
HelsinnLugano TicinoGlobal headquarters
HocomaVolketswil ZürichGlobal headquarters
IdorsiaAllschwil Basel-LandschaftGlobal headquarters
IncyteMorges VaudEuropean headquarters
InSpheroSchlieren ZürichGlobal headquarters
Intuitive SurgicalAubonne VaudEuropean headquarters
Janssen-Cilag, (Johnson & Johnson)Zug ZugLocal headquarters
LonzaBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
MasimoNeuchâtel NeuchâtelInternational headquarters
MedelaBaar ZugGlobal headquarters
MedtronicTolochenaz VaudEurope & Central Asia headquarters
ModernaBasel Basel-StadtEMEA headquarters[8]
Molecular PartnersSchlieren ZürichGlobal headquarters
MSDLucerne LucerneLocal headquarters and pharmaceutical manufacturing site
NBE-TherapeuticsBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
Neovii PharmaceuticalsRapperswil St. GallenGlobal headquarters
NovaCurieBern BernGlobal headquarters
NovartisBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
NovimmuneGeneva GenevaGlobal headquarters
Novo NordiskZürich ZürichInternational operations
OctapharmaLachen SchwyzGlobal headquarters
OM PharmaMeyrin GenevaGlobal headquarters
RocheBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
SandozBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
SantheraPratteln Basel-LandschaftGlobal headquarters
SeagenZug ZugEuropean headquarters
Senn ChemicalsDielsdorf ZürichGlobal headquarters
Siegfried HoldingZofingen, Aargau AargauGlobal headquarters and manufacturing site
SonovaStäfa, Zürich ZürichGlobal headquarters
Sotio BiotechBasel Basel-StadtLocal subsidiary
STAAR SurgicalNidau BernInternational headquarters
StraumannBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
Takeda PharmaceuticalZürich ZürichEurope & Canada business unit
TecanMännedorf ZürichGlobal headquarters
VAXIMMBasel Basel-StadtGlobal headquarters
CSL ViforSt. Gallen St. GallenGlobal headquarters
Ypsomed HoldingBurgdorf BernGlobal headquarters
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Life sciences

70% of the investments in life sciences in Europe are made in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland.[4][5]

In addition to pharmaceutical companies (65 companies), Switzerland is home to many companies in the fields of biotechnology (338 companies) or medical devices and technology (341 companies).[4][5] According to KPMG, there are 120 life science companies in Basel, 132 in Zürich and 92 in the Lemanic region.[4][5]

In 2013, 41 life science companies had their international headquarters (and 29 more their regional headquarters) in Switzerland.[4][5] In Switzerland, there are about 51,000 workers in the field of medical technologies (1,600 companies) and 13,700 on the field of biotechnologies.[9]

Hubs

Basel region

According to Le Temps, there are about 900 pharmaceutical and medtech companies (50,000 workers) in the region of Basel.[9] The region of Zurich, mainly active in medical technologies employs 21,000 workers.[9]

Lemanic region

See also: Health Valley
The former headquarters of Merck Serono in Geneva, which now hosts the Campus Biotech

According to L'Hebdo, there are 750 biotech and medtech companies (20,000 employees) in the Lemanic region.[10] Among them, 450 companies develop and/or produce drugs.[10] In addition to that, there are 500 laboratories from universities and university hospitals (in the Lemanic region).[10]

Statistics

As of 2023, some 350 companies were active in the pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland.[11]

As of 2024, some 56,000 people work in the pharmaceutical industry, mostly at large multinational companies such as Novartis, Roche or Sandoz. The sector also employs around 250,000 people indirectly.[11]

The pharma industry invests a third of the approximately CHF18 billion into R&D spent by the private sector as a whole (2023).[11]

In 2025, Switzerland exported some CHF100 billion worth of pharma products, or 22% of its total exports by value.[11]

In 2024, Switzerland exported pharma products stood behing behind Germany but ahead of the United States in terms of total value.[11]

In 2025, four drugs from Novartis and two from Roche were among the world’s 50 best-selling medicines.[11]

Novartis and Roche have agreed to invest billions of dollars to increase their production in the United States, following tense negociations with the Trump administration in 2026.[11]

See also

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

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