World leader in Life Sciences, strong focus on pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical technology

Basel-Landschaft is one of  the world's leading research, development and production location for the rapidly growing Life Sciences industry, with pharmaceuticals, biotech and MedTech as its mainstay.

A dense cluster of major companies, the unique dynamics and innovative strengths in both private and university research, and the supportive regional environment have made the economic area around Basel a leading and profitable location for the Life Sciences industry. As measured by its research and development spending (14% of regional GDP), the number of patents in Life Sciences (170 per million inhabitants) and the nominal productivity per hour (USD 400/hr), the economic region easily ranks first among all Life Sciences locations world-wide.

Flyer "Life Sciences Standort Baselland"

Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical technology are at the core of the Basel Life Sciences cluster. Pharmaceuticals are also Switzerland’s main export contribution with some CHF 98 billion in exports and a market share of about 10% world-wide. In total, the pharmaceutical companies in the Basel region invest about CHF 6 billion per year in research and development. This includes biotech and medtech investments, both of which are gaining in importance. Currently, their sales stand at some CHF 20 billion in Switzerland alone. The pharma, biotech and medtech cluster has also attracted associated industries such as agrochemistry, nanotech and cosmetics.

The Basel economic area links fundamental biological and medical research with industrial production. Recently, established and leading firms Roche and Novartis have attracted an increasingly close network of businesses, institutions and specialised workers.  Currently, no less than 700 companies are active in Life Sciences – a true growth industry. The canton of Basel-Landschaft acts as a reliable sponsor of strong research institutions (FHNW, ETH and Basel university) and promotes Life Sciences as its key industry, not least through its “Life Sciences Cluster Region Basel“ initiative.

Life Sciences

• Over 700 Life Sciences companies
• Some 33,000 employees generate added value of USD 32.4 billion per year
• Chemical and pharmaceutical exports amount to over CHF 98 billion per year,
• or over 44% of all Swiss exports.
• The worldwide market share of the Swiss pharmaceutical industry is about 10%.