Focus Sectors
Life Sciences
Why Switzerland for life sciences
The Swiss life sciences industry has been one of the world leaders for decades.
The pharma and medtech ecosystems cover the entire value chain and include universities and research institutes, large Swiss and foreign companies, startups and medium-sized businesses, suppliers and service providers, investors and advisors, support organisations and foundations, and, last but not least, clinics.
The individual organisations and companies are consistently among the world’s top performers. This creates optimal conditions for startups: they are able to focus on their core innovation and rely on the ecosystem for all other tasks. And the talent pool of tens of thousands of experienced and highly qualified people is of great benefit to young startups in particular.
Data-based insights
Multi-billion dollar exits
The most spectacular exits in Switzerland are made by healthcare startups. The record is held by Basel-based biotech company Actelion, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2017 for USD 30 billion US in cash. A few years earlier, Swiss medtech company Synthes was sold for USD 21 billion.
Although such figures are not reached every year, there is a steady stream of large exits: In 2023, VectivBio was acquired by Ironwood Pharmaceuticals for USD 1 billion and Boehringer Ingelheim acquired T3 Pharma for an amount of up to CHF 500 million. And Swiss startups are also in demand in the medtech sector: in 2024, Bruker Corporation took over Chemspeed Technologies, which manufactures laboratory automation solutions, and dental technology group Straumann bought Mininavident, manufacturer of the world’s smallest dynamic navigation system for dental implants.
Tens of thousands of skilled workers
Employee numbers have developed extremely dynamically over the last 10 years. Between 2014 and 2023, both the medtech sector and the biotech sector increased by 35%, demonstrating the success of Swiss companies on the global market.
It also shows clearly that companies are able to attract bright minds from all over the world. Switzerland not only offers an optimal environment for life sciences companies, but is also attractive to employees. It is not surprising that in this country 44% of all employees and 50% of all startup founders have a foreign passport.
Investment and private investors
Research-intensive life sciences startups rely on large sums of money for product development. In the five years from 2020 to 2024, more than CHF 5 billion in venture capital was invested in Swiss startups in the biotech and life sciences industry.
The money often comes from private assets. For Swiss VCs, ultra-high-net-worth individuals – UHNWIs – and family offices are the most important financial backers. Private foundations and individuals ensure improvements in the ecosystem through donations and investments.
The sums can be enormous: in 2024, Fondation Botnar donated USD 1 billion for a new immunology research institute in Basel. Over the next 15 years, this money will be used to set up the Botnar Institute for Immune Engineering (BIIE), and for research into cost-effective immunotherapies.
Recently Caught Our Attention in Life Sciences
Startups
Investors
Success Stories
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Read more: Globally Unique Focus on Deep TechThe first Swiss Deep Tech Report presents data-driven evidence of the advantages that make Switzerland a global deep tech hotspot. It also provides an in-depth…
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Read more: AI Pioneers in the Life Sciences SectorSwitzerland’s strong life sciences sector is a pace setter in combining traditional approaches from the pharma and medtech industries with AI. Several start-ups have recently…
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Read more: Success Story: Péter FankhauserANYbotics’ Péter Fankhauser takes on Boston Dynamics with robot dogs built for dangerous inspections—backed by $60M and global clients.
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