Portrait - Organisation

scienceindustries Annual Event 2026

Switzerland remains third worldwide in chemicals and pharmaceuticals but is losing ground in innovation. At the scienceindustries Annual Event, 110 guests discussed what role AI could play.

Switzerland’s chemical and pharmaceutical industry ranks among the world’s most competitive, but it is losing ground in innovation and technological leadership. How can Switzerland hold on to its place on the podium, and what role can artificial intelligence play? These questions brought 110 guests to the Kongresshaus Zürich on 4 November 2026, including scienceindustries members and representatives from politics, public administration, business and the media.

Annette Luther, President of scienceindustries, opened the discussion by asking what Switzerland can do to strengthen its position. She pointed to the importance of keeping markets open through new and modernised free trade agreements and the Bilaterals III package with the EU. For Switzerland’s life sciences sector, she highlighted legal certainty, streamlined approval procedures for clinical trials and protection of intellectual property. The findings of the 2026 Global Industry Competitiveness Index (GICI), discussed by Michael Grass of BAK Economics with Sonja Hasler, underscored the urgency of these issues. Switzerland remains third overall and leads on location quality. In innovation and technological leadership, it fell from second in 2024 to fifth in 2025 and seventh in 2026. It ranks 18th for market access and regulation.

AI offered a concrete example of how Switzerland could make better use of its research strengths. To turn research into new applications more quickly, Luther called for standardised health data and proportionate regulation that aligns with international approaches. In his keynote, Professor Markus Lill of the University of Basel showed where AI already helps in drug discovery and where its limits lie. Models can, for instance, predict how strongly a molecule will bind to a target protein. This helps researchers decide which candidates to investigate further in the lab.

The discussion then moved from research to the workplace. In a panel moderated by Sonja Hasler, Markus Lill, Dr Arndt Finkelmann (Syngenta), digital expert Dr Sarah Genner and Jamila Shoazizova, who completed her apprenticeship at Novartis and was named aprentas’s 2026 ‘Apprentice of the Year’, discussed which tasks AI can take on, where human judgement remains essential and what that means for training the next generation. After questions from the audience, scienceindustries Director Stephan Mumenthaler drew the event to a close. Conversations continued over a networking lunch.

The photo gallery and highlights video capture moments from our Annual Event.
Photos: Mara Truog / maratruog.ch
Video: Marc Kessler / kemedia.ch