Interview Drug Discovery World: Switzerland as global biotech hub

Switzerland punching above its weight as global biotech hub

To understand Switzerland’s continued success in the biotech sector and gain personal insights, Lu Rahman from Drug Discovery World spoke to Michael Altorfer (CEO of the Swiss Biotech Association), Jan Lucht (Head of Biotechnology, scienceindustries), Claude Joris (Secretary General, BioAlps), and Carole Delauney (Business Development Director at swissfillon).

With a population of just 8.5 million people, Switzerland’s prominence in the biotech sector is remarkable. Last year, in collaboration with partners around the world, it played a key role in the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, capital investments in Swiss biotech companies almost tripled, reaching US$ 3.7 billion, R&D spending increased by 10%, and high quality patent output helped to maintain Switzerland’s position at the top of the Global Innovation Index for the tenth consecutive year. While the spotlight was on Covid-related projects, biotech companies did not lose sight of other unmet medical needs and continued to invest heavily to expand their R&D and manufacturing infrastructure, and to advance and broaden their portfolio of drug candidates and new modalities (continue to read with free DDW registration).