Dynamic developments

Dr Herbert Reutimann, managing director, Unitectra, SPP BioTech, highlights the changes in the Swiss biotechnology industry

In the past year, the biotechnology sector in Switzerland has continued to show dynamic development. With over 250 biotech companies in the country, the industry is thriving, despite the difficult economic conditions seen in Europe. Around 30 companies have been newly established over the past 24 months, indicating the good health of the industry, although there have been a number of mergers and acquisitions.

The dynamics of the biotech field in Switzerland is demonstrated by the fact that 69 companies (biotech or otherwise) were established over the past five years. If the 11 biotech consulting companies which were created during this time are included, the number of biotech companies established within the last five years accounts for almost one-third of all the companies.

Some of the young companies, such as Actelion, Cytos, Geneprot and Prionics, have seen successful growth. Two of the recently created companies, Actelion and Modex, are already listed on the new market of the Swiss Stock Exchange. Geographically, about 80% of biotech companies are located in one of three main areas around Basel, the lake of Geneva (Lausanne/Geneva), and Zuerich.

The universities in Zuerich near Lake Geneva have successfully fostered a considerable number of new ventures. The entrepreneurial spirit of the faculty and the support for an active technology transfer policy from the university direction are key aspects in this positive development.

An important role can also be attributed to the Priority Programme Biotechnology of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SPP BioTech), which laid the basis for, or at least played an important role in, establishing 16 new companies.

This national research programme started in 1992 and will finish at the end of this year. In recent years, a considerable number of the start-ups received part of their funding from the Novartis Venture Fund, which has been highly instrumental in supporting the dynamic development of the entrepreneurial biotech scene in Switzerland.

According to their main business focus, the companies are divided into four main categories. About 40% of the companies listed have their production in Switzerland, and most of them market and sell their products, chemicals, and also have an r&d unit in Switzerland. n

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