Ilmac Lausanne 2026: a Record Edition and a Packed BioAlps Forum
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On 24 of September, BioAlps Swiss Health Valley organised a one-day forum at Ilmac Lausanne and attracted overs 300 participants.
Ilmac Lausanne, held on 23 and 24 September 2026 at Beaulieu, had its best edition yet. The event welcomed 3,952 participants (+18.6% compared with 2024) and 213 exhibitors (+7%), further strengthening its position as an important platform for the life sciences and chemical industries in Western Switzerland.
Key topics included automation, artificial intelligence, digitalisation, biotech and process analytical technology (PAT). The new Future of Life Sciences Area and the fully booked Startup Area provided fresh insights, many valuable discussions and concrete new contacts.
The BioAlps Forum puts biotools in the spotlight
In collaboration with Innovaud, BioAlps hosted a full-day forum dedicated to the biotools community, which attracted more than 300 attendees over the course of the day.
After opening remarks from Ilmac, BioAlps, Innovaud and the Swiss Biotech Association, CSEM gave the opening keynote. Samantha Paoletti and Gilles Weder showed how biotools sit at the heart of bioconvergence, from applied research to industrial adoption.
Two panel sessions followed:
- Building the Biotools Ecosystem brought together FluoSphera, Thermo Fisher Scientific, EPFL and Genesupport to discuss innovation, challenges and the road to market.
- Engineering the Future: Biotools in Advanced Therapies gathered Bracco, Limula, the University of Fribourg and Alliance pour innover.
In the afternoon, Marine de Lageneste of Cytiva gave a keynote on delivering cell and gene therapies at scale.
The day ended with a lively pitch session, in which 11 regional start-ups presented their solutions: Aerospec, Arcoscreen, Bionomous, Bioscibex, Calico Biosystems, FluoSphera, Inbiomics, Metromol, Nagi Biosciences, Rockstone Engineering Switzerland and Theragate. Closing remarks and networking took place at the joint BioAlps and Innovaud booth.
Many thanks to all the speakers, start-ups and participants, and to Ilmac and Innovaud for their partnership. See you at the next edition!