Swiss biotech companies have for years proved to be comparatively crisis-resistant. Although the European debt crisis continued to be perceptible in many sectors last year, the biotech sector was able to pick up above-average momentum. The sector saw increases in terms of net sales, capital investments and number of employees. Start-ups and private companies are a driving force of the industry.
The Swiss Biotech Report 2014 presented to the public today illustrates the positive development of the pharmaceutical biotech sector ('red biotechnology' or 'biotech healthcare') last year.
Net sales of all biotech companies domiciled in Switzerland amounted to a total of 4,744 million CHF in 2013 and increased by 102 million CHF compared with the previous year.
Capital investments in Swiss biotech companies increased from 260 to 418 million CHF compared with the previous year. This exceptional increase is attributable to the listed Evolva company as well as to over 20 other private companies and start-ups. However, experience in the past year also shows that early-stage financing continues to be difficult.
Jürg Zürcher of EY who presented the report at the Swiss Biotech Day mentioned that now VCs from the US have started to look at European start-ups. Zürcher spoke about an US investor who had said that Europe is a paradise for him because completion between investors is less intense than in the US.
A total of 252 companies are active in the Swiss biotech sector as the result of a number of recent start-ups.
Zürcher also mentioned the importance of private companies for R&D. The expenditures of private companies for R&D are as high as those of public companies.
Compared with the previous year, a total of over 400 new jobs were created. As a result, the number of employees in the Swiss biotech sector amounts to over 14,000. The number of indirectly associated jobs with companies acting as suppliers or service providers for the sector amounts to between 25,000 and 30,000.
Biotech industry as a growth driver for the Swiss economy
The Swiss Biotech Report 2014 highlights the most important innovation drivers and summarises themes and facts regarding the development of the Swiss biotech industry. The focus is on industry performance data in the pharmaceutical sector compared with the previous year. But biotechnology is omnipresent in other sectors as well, such as environmental protection and the food industry. Without always being aware of the fact, Swiss citizens benefit directly from biotechnology – for example when clothes become clean at a lower temperature thanks to new enzymes in detergents.
The biotech sector is also extremely innovative and an important growth driver of the Swiss economy. Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister for Economic Affairs Johann Schneider- Ammann is convinced: 'We expect biotechnology to continue to play a key role in the sustainable development of the Swiss economy', Schneider-Ammann writes in the introduction to the Swiss Biotech Report.
On the other hand there is a certain pressure that innovations developed in Switzerland do not stay in Switzerland but are transferred to the US in the process of valorisation. Jürg Zürcher said that this pressure can be observed in all European countries. Therefore it’s necessary to secure a good business environment for the biotech industry. Not only regulations are an issue here but also the availability of capital for biotech companies.
The Swiss Biotech Report 2014 can be downloaded for free at the website of Swiss Biotech.
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