Swiss Biotech Association | Record year for Western Switzerland’s biotech industry
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An attractive, dynamic & ever-growing life sciences ecosystem
Biotechnology companies based in Switzerland have experienced record investments in the pandemic year 2020. The western Switzerland region, home to the “Health Valley”, ranks second nationally in the financing of private biotech companies.
According to the 2021 edition of the Swiss Biotech Report, the Swiss biotech sector has once again gained in importance in 2020, a trend that the ongoing coronavirus crisis will further intensify in the coming years.
In 2020, the life sciences sector achieved a record export value of CHF 99.09 billion, representing alone 44% share of total Swiss exports this year.
Swiss biotech companies raised a total of CHF 3.44 billion, their best year ever. CHF 2.7 billion were invested in public companies, and private biopharmas and biotechs (i.e. not listed on the stock exchange) raised a total of CHF 747 million in capital.
The western part of Switzerland was ahead of the Zurich region (CHF 136 million) for the second year in a row with CHF 173 million raised. However, the Basel region, the stronghold of the Swiss pharmaceutical industry, far surpassed other regions in this respect, raising CHF 438 million in 2020.
Western Switzerland boasts numerous prestigious life sciences companies. This dynamic region comprises the so-called “Health Valley“, a dense network of around 1,000 companies, 27,000 professionals, 5,000 researchers and scientists, 39 universities and research institutions, 500 high-tech labs, and 50 innovation support bodies, all collaborating to further the life sciences.