Considerable growth of Swiss biotech sector in 2015

The Swiss Biotech Report presented to the public today shows the favourable economic development of the pharmaceutical biotech sector ('red biotechnology' or 'biotech healthcare') last year.

• Net sales of all biotech companies domiciled in Switzerland totalled 5,133 million CHF in 2015, increasing by 248 million CHF compared to the previous year.
• Capital investment in biotech companies increased from 719 to 907 million CHF, making for a new record and a remarkable result given the low IPO activity. Of this total, 474 million CHF is attributable to listed companies and 433 million CHF to privately held companies of which the great majority are still in the start-up phase.
• A total of 279 companies were operating in the Swiss biotech sector in 2015, 15 more than in 2014.
• Compared to the previous year, a total of about 400 new jobs were created. As a result, the number of people employed directly in the Swiss biotech sector amounts to over 15,000, in addition to the 25,000 to 30,000 working for companies acting as suppliers or service providers for the sector.

Start-ups playing a crucial role
Start-ups contributed considerably to the good results. According to the report 17 new biotech companies were founded in 2015. And the reason for the new record in financing is the huge amount which was invested in private biotech companies. In total more than CHF430 million were invested in privately held companies. This is a huge amount also in comparison with the amount invested in Europe. In 2015 USD2.9 billion flowed into private biotech companies. Swiss companies attracted 15 percent of the total. “This is a promise for the future”, commented Jürg Zürcher, Life Sciences Leader Switzerland at EY and co-author of the report.

Tax situation in Zurich important topic
Following the presentation of the report, Dominik Escher, founder and Head Esbatech and president of the Swiss Biotech Association talked about the key activities of the association. Apart from facilitating networking and disseminating the accomplishments of the Swiss biotech industry the organisation tries also to improve the framework conditions for the industry. A major topic is the tax situation in the canton of Zurich. Tax authorities take the valuation of the last financing round into account for the wealth tax of the founders of biotech companies. “This approach is a big threat for the biotech industry in Switzerland”, said Dominik Escher.

Swiss Biotech Report
The Swiss Biotech Report highlights the most important innovation drivers and summarises topics and facts concerning the development of the Swiss biotech industry. The focus is on industry performance data in the pharmaceutical sector compared to the previous year. Innovations in biotechnology provide lasting support for a wide range of sectors in the Swiss economy. The report can be downloaded for free from the website of the Swiss Biotech Association.